Kairouan Things to Do

Kairouan carpets have an excellent reputation in Tunisia. You can recognize them by its kind of point and by their typical hexagonal designs in the center. In Kairouan you will find a lot of shops selling carpets, usually inside rich villas in the center of the medina, like the one on the picture. So if you want to buy a carpet from Tunisia, go to Kairouan.

Updates: by the way . . . this picture is already an historical picture as the house still exists (and it is easy to find) but was transformed into a “everything for 1€” shop . . . nooooooo!!! :-((

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In the heart of the medina, this is not a tourist souq, it is very genuine! as you will find gift stalls for tourists but also clothes stalls or fruit stalls for local people. Immerse yourself in this world of smells, colors, traditions, Arabic music and all kind of stuff. It is also an excellent place to do some people watching.

ps. have you found on these pictures my old "maison de tapis ou tapis de maison" now converted into a banal shop? what a pity :-((((

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This zawiyya houses the tomb of Abu Zaba al-Belaoui, one of prophet’s companions. You can see his richly decorated mausoleum inside, built during the VII th century, where there are always some people praying for his soul. The decoration is very beautiful, especially the colourful tiles and the floral designs made on the stone. The first time that I visited this zawiyya there was a kind of celebration and lots of Berber families wearing colourful dresses had come to the zawiyya from the mountains to do the circumcision of their newborn members. This ritual was practised in the small rooms that you can see around the main courtyard (picture 2).

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Keeping its ancient appearance, (they were destroyed many times) these walls that protect the medina date from the XX th century, when they were rebuilt after the WW2. There are some nice exceptions like Bab al-Khoukha, which is the oldest gate built in 1706.

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Founded during the 9th century by Kairoun al6Maafri, a holy man of Cordoba, this little mosque is noted for its three doors. I cannot say nothing else as the mosque is off limits for non Muslims. Really I have always seen it closed so maybe they only open it for special events. But the façade is also interesting for its inscriptions and decoration (picture 2)

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This is without any doubt the most important spot in Kairouan! The construction of this Mosque dates back from the 670. It was destroyed a couple of times but the main structure is still from that period so we can consider this mosque as the oldest mosque in North Africa and an important centre of pilgrimage.
There is a small room on the left of the entrance with some informative displays that can be a good introduction to your visit. Some interesting things inside are the minaret, which is considered the oldest minaret in the world, built (its lowest level) by the year 730
(picture 2) some koranic inscriptions (picture 4) in the courtyard and of course the prayer hall (following tip)
Very important: the mosque is only opened until 12,00 am and it would be a pity to miss it during your visit to the city like it happened to me the first time!

The prayer hall can only be visited by muslims but you can see it more or less from one of its 14 doors. The legend says that anyone trying to count its columns will become blind. There are columns of different sizes, periods and styles, basically from roman and byzantine times that were transported until there from places like Chartàge or Sousse. The mihrab , at the background of the picture is from the IXth century and it's the oldest mihrab in the world.

Oh by the way. . . the number of columns is 414 ;-)))

We found this “monument” by chance. Its an ancient and a very venerated site, built during the XVIIth century and protected by a small building with a cupola. Nothing attires your attention from outside, you find it if you know the address (ave Belhouane, or better ask to the local people) but if you go upstairs you will find a well that tradition says its connected to the well of Zem Zem in Mecca. This place is continuously surveyed by a camel that turns the wheel of an ancient “noria” to draw water from the well to the surface. We saw some people lined up to taste this “Mecca water”, maybe it was a kind of blessing or purification…. who knows……
The scene of the camel, annoied, making the wheel turn worths a picture…