Kebili Travel Guide

  Mosque and Ruins of Old Kebili
by maykal
 
  • Mosque and Ruins of Old Kebili
      Mosque and Ruins of Old Kebili
    by maykal
  • Zaouia, Old Kebili
      Zaouia, Old Kebili
    by maykal
  • Zaouia, Old Kebili
      Zaouia, Old Kebili
    by maykal
  • Kebili Oasis
      Kebili Oasis
    by maykal
  • Old Kebili
      Old Kebili
    by maykal
 

Explore Kebili

Things to Do  

Old Kebili Museum

Old Kebili Museum, Kebili

 maykal Says:  Old Kebili is not huge, and with so many families heading to the site to maintain old houses or worship at the zaouias, there are lots of kids running amok among the ruins. Sooner or later, you'll be spotted, and word will get round to the director of the Save Old Kebili... 

Old Kebili Mosque

Old Kebili Mosque, Kebili

 maykal Says:  The mosque's minaret stands tall above the ruins and is quite a sad sight. Apart from the small whitewashed zaouias, it is the only real surviving structure of Old Kebili. The mosque building itself doesn't look as old as the minaret, but is still in use, as you will hear... 

Zaouia spotting in old Kebili

Zaouia spotting in old Kebili, Kebili

 maykal Says:  Four or five zaouias (also known as marabouts...think of them as mini mosques) still stand in Kebili, and a couple of them are used regularly. I met members of the Aissawiya Sufi sect who invited me to their Mawlid an-Nebi (Prophet's Birthday) celebrations in one of the... 

Old Kebili

Old Kebili, Kebili

 maykal Says:  Old Kebili used to be just plain Kebili until relatively recently. In the 1980s, the old centre was deemed uninhabitable, and the locals were "encouraged" to move to the modern town 3 kilometres away. I'm told this was supposedly optional, but by making basic commodities... 

Walk to Old Kebili

Walk to Old Kebili, Kebili

 maykal Says:  If modern Kebili doesn't do it for you, don't just hop on the next louage out of there...stock up on water, and head out of town, under an impressive archway and down a 3 kilometre road through palm trees...After half an hour or so, the ruins and zaouias of Old Kebili will... 

Abandoned Houses

Abandoned Houses, Kebili

 barryg23 Says:  There's a real feeling of desolation as you wander through the abandoned houses in Old Kebili. The path ended after a while so we had to clamber over walls in what was, probably, once someone's bedroom or kitchen. 

Marabout

Marabout, Kebili

 barryg23 Says:  Old Kebili is completely deserted. We could see some builders in the distance working on a site but other than that we had the place to ourselves. We decided to wander throught the ruins to try and find a place for a picnic. The mosque in the old town has a loudspeaker... 

Old Kebili

Old Kebili, Kebili

 barryg23 Says:  Deep in the oasis lies Old Kebili which has been abandoned since 1980. Approaching Kebili from the south you'll see a sign for L'ancienne Kebili. Follow this road for about a kilometre and you'll see a large arch from where a narrow, winding road leads to the old town. There... 

Kebili Oasis

Kebili Oasis, Kebili

 barryg23 Says:  The most impressive feature of Kebili is its oasis which completely surrounds the abandoned, old town and also surrounds much of the new town. 

Mosque in Kebili

Mosque in Kebili, Kebili

 barryg23 Says:  As the new town has only been built in recent years there aren't too many distinctive buildings. The white mosque was the most impressive building we saw although there wasn't much to distinguish from the other white mosques we had seen in Jerba and in Southern Tunisia. We... 

Hotels  

No name hotel...

No name hotel..., Kebili

 maykal Says:  Kebili has a good no-name hotel five minutes' walk from the louage stop. Head south towards the oasis and look out for a mosque...the hotel is up some steps above a cafe.Nobody was in when I arrived, so I had to rouse a confused cafe owner from his mid-afternoon nap to go... 

hotel yadis oasis: expensive and empty

hotel yadis oasis: expensive and empty, Kebili

 Krabbendam Says:  asked for "the best hotel in town"fairly nice rooms, though not quite up to the standard of the reception areainternet access in receptionI think the place felt soulless because it was so large and so empty: there was almost noone there extravagant layout with large pool 

Restaurants  

The Cave
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maykal 1340 reviews

A trendy local cafe, supposedly suitable for women (there is a "family section" at the back behind a flimsy net curtain, although there were no women lurking within when I went), is the best place in kebili's new town for an evening of coffee and chicha. Inside, it has been decked out like a cave...not Aladdin's cave, and we can all thank Allah for that, but an almost tasteful natural cave. I use the term "tasteful" in the loosest possible sense, mind.

Anyway, it's a good place, the coffee is strong and black, the chicha smooth and fragranted...and you'll probably run into Youcef, the local tourist guide who tends to track down any foreigners passing through. He can offer an array of tours to the desert south, but is also equally happy to sit and chat about Kebili over a no-strings-attached coffee.

Written Apr 17, 2007

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Goodbye to Kebili

Goodbye to Kebili, Kebili

 barryg23 Says:  Many towns in Tunisia have interesting monuments/architecture on the road near their entrance. In Kebili there was a bridge over the road which had the head of a camel at either end. In a country where much of the decoration, art and architeture is religious, it's quite... 

Lunch in Old Kebili

Lunch in Old Kebili, Kebili

 barryg23 Says:  After walking through the ruins we finally saw somewhere to sit and have a picnic. On the far side of the mosque was a makeshift wall which was exactly what we needed. I've had lunch in some interesting places before but next to a mosque in an ancient town which has been... 

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Map of Kebili