Kairouan

The Unesco city of Kairouan, the capital is located 50km south of Sousse, and 184 km from Tunisians capital Tunis. The city was founded by the Arabs around 670, who makes this the first stronghold in the Maghreb. It lasted a couple years before it was concerd by the Berbers rebellion. In 694 AD it was re-established, and since then it is considered to be the fourth holiest site in Islam, because of the presences of the great Mosque. It has been told that this is the oldest mosque in North Africa.

The great mosque of Kairouan is known as The Sidi Okba mosque, after the founder of Kairouan. The first construction works are dating back to 670 CE. Along the way the mosque has been destroyed a couple of times, and rebuild again to the greatness it now is. The great mosques has a lot of special items that are very special and are old such as the minaret that is dating back to 730 with Latin inscriptions. The minaret is 31.5 metres high with a base of 10.7 metres square. It has 3 sections, where the first is 19 m, second 5 m and the third 7.5m including the dome. The prayer hall is at the southern end of the courtyard. With doors dating back to 1829, and with 414 pillars that are from Roman and Byzantine origin. Non Muslims cannot ether the whole building. The zaouia of Sidi Abib el Ghariani is a very special woodcarving and stuccowork dating back from the 14th century. Bir Barouta was built in 1676 surrounding the town well. The well supposed to be in connection with the well of Zem Zem in Mecca. The 18th century media house from Maison du Gouverneur is nicely decorated with teak, marble, and cedar. The Kairouan’s city walls are dating back to 761, but have been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times. The most interesting wall parts are around the main entrance of Bab Chouhada. This is also the main entrance of the medina. The Zaouia of Sidi Sahab houses the tomb of Abdu Zama el Belaoui. He was the companion of the prophet Mohammed. Most of the building what stand today is from the 17th century, but the first construction began in the 7th century. A walk around the media of Kairouan is also a good idea, because it houses fine building and interesting architecture.