Day Trips From Monastir 1


Monastir makes a great base for visits to other towns and for discovering Tunisian history and culture. The first of our day trips from Monastir was to the town of El Djem, where the legacy of the Roman occupation of Tunisia is clearly visible. The town contains one of the world’s most well-preserved coliseums as well as some of the most intact and incredible mosaics.

For a glimpse into Islamic life, a visit to UNESCO-listed Kairoran is a must with its carpet trading history and the Great Mosque.

North along the coast from Monastir lies Sousse. It is easily reached by metro train and has a lively souk for shopping. In the opposite direction, Mahdia makes for a pleasant stroll around its old town and rugged coast.

All the trips were made using public transport; our costs are included at the end of the post.

El Djem

After settling in and a week doing boat chores and fighting off a minor sickness, we were ready to venture further afield. A visit to the town of El Djem was the first choice for our day trips from Monastir. Its located an hour’s drive inland and is the unlikely setting for a Roman coliseum, the second largest in the Roman world.

El Djem was our first experience of a rural town in Tunisia. It was a little rough around the edges but people were friendly and pointed out the way to the coliseum. There were some interesting produce stalls lining the road, one with a whole sheep hanging in front.

Why on earth was there a Roman town out here in the flat and arid landscape? And not just a small, insignificant town, but one large and successful enough to be granted the rights by Rome to built a large coliseum. It turns out the founders of the city saw the success of the wheat and olive growers in the area and decided they wanted some of that success. Water had to be brought via aqueduct and building materials carried overland from the coast, but Thysdrus was born and grew to be the second city of Roman north Africa after Carthage.

The Coliseum

Our first sight of the coliseum looming above the low level housing was very dramatic.

The coliseum is only partly intact but what remains is still stunning, particularly on the side where you can climb up high to the upper seating area where the views are far-reaching. There is an information board in Arabic, French, and English and we could wander freely; it was uncrowded when we were there, a huge contrast to the long queues to visit the Rome Colosseum.

After the Romans had left, the coliseum was put to other uses. A Berber princess took refuge here against Arab forces In the 7th century. Later still, it was used as a source of building material, which is the cause of much of the damage.

Our first view of the coliseum (and a camel)
The more intact side
In the corridors beneath the tiers of seating
Gladiator view as they entered the stadium
The view from up high shows a very straight road, well the Romans did like to build them that way
The lower side has been restored and concerts are held here

As well as climbing up high, we were able to go down underground into the vaults where animals and people spent their last minutes before being thrown into the ring.

In the underground tunnels
Waiting for the show to start
The stairs

The El Djem Museum

Included with the coliseum ticket was the entry to the El Djem museum which houses a collection of restored mosaics in a recreated Roman villa. The colours in the mosaics are amazingly vibrant considering they’re over 2000 years old. Restored mosaics cover the floor and the walls of the museum. This allows you to get really up close and see how intricate they are. Thousands of tiny pieces all placed precisely together to produce a single beautiful mural.

Outside the villa we wandered the remains of excavated Roman housing. Some of these contained even more mosaics still waiting to be restored.

The entrance to the museum
There are several rooms full of incredible mosaics
Vivid colours in a 2000 year old mosaic
Outside are the excavated Roman remains from which some of the mosaics were salvaged

The Louage

There is no direct transport from Monastir to El Djem (unless you take a private taxi), however there are more options from the neighbouring town of Sousse – either train, bus or louage.

A louage is a minibus sized, shared taxi that can carry up to 8 passengers. Each taxi advertises its destination on top (in Arabic only) and above it on signs hanging from the louage station roof which are in both Arabic and French. People get on and once it’s full, off it goes. Prices are fixed and tickets are bought either in a kiosk at the louage station or onboard. It’s a brilliant idea – not as big as a bus so no need to wait for a large number of people or keep to a timetable yet bigger than a car so keeping traffic off the roads. Every town should have a louage service.

A louage at the Monastir station

First Leg – Monastir to Sousse

The vans are white with a coloured stripe – either red, blue, or yellow. We only used the red striped ones which travel between towns. When we first arrived at the Monastir louage station, we probably looked a little lost, standing and staring at the overhead signs. And to be honest we were a little nervous too about what we might be getting ourselves into. One of the drivers came up to us asking where we wanted to go. Sousse, please! He pointed out the next van going that way and then to the ticket kiosk. 1.9TD got us each a two-piece ticket, half of which we handed over to the driver.

We were the last two passengers to take the total up to eight so there was no waiting, we were off. The van was a little past it’s prime and on that journey, we were glad that we weren’t driving as there were some interesting techniques on display. And it turned out we were sitting next to an American lady who was living here so we had a great chat about the country.

25 minutes later we arrived in Sousse at a large hanger like building that must have had near 100 red striped mini vans waiting in orderly rows. Along the front of the hanger was the ticket kiosk, with destinations and prices on display. We bought our tickets to El Djem and were then directed to the van.

Second Leg – Sousse to El Djem

The wait was longer at around 15 minutes and then we were dodging and weaving through the traffic on the outskirts of Sousse.

Beyond the towns the roads are very straight, with so much empty space there’s no reason to make corners. Roundabouts are popular, even when they only have two spokes. We travelled on the toll road, the flat scenery dominated by ranks of olive trees for as far as the eye could see.

For the return trip, we had to wait nearly an hour before the van filled up, we would probably have been quicker taking a bus back to Sousse. We got to experience the back roads this time. This was great until we passed through a small village where speed bumps had been placed to protect the residents. Good for their safety, not so much for ours as many of them didn’t have warning signs. Several times ours heads came close to boucing off the roof as our driver barrelled across them at speed.

Mahdia

After a positive louage experience, we were keen to try out the other forms of public transport available in Tunisia. For day trips from Monastir, Mahdia made an easy choice and allowed us to try the Metro de Sahel, an electrified train line that runs between Sousse and Mahdia with a stop at Monastir.

The Metro de Sahel

Mahdia is a small town that was once the capital of the area. It lies along a rugged peninsula and has a sturdy looking fortress located at the highest point. Remnants of its past are visible in the remains of the walls which encircled the historic city. We followed a track around the rugged coastline and amongst the many white gravestones that dot the scrubby land. At its tip lies Cap Africa. On the day we visited, white horses pounded the rocky coastline as a strong westerly wind blew.

The remains of a gateway in the town’s walls
A splash of colour
The ancient port has been taken over by little fishing boats

The Medina

Within the outer walls was a second wall within which the royal founders of the city lived. This area is now the medina. It’s a far less hectic place than other medinas we’ve visited with wide cobbled streets and peaceful residential areas. Along one side stands the imposing Skifa El-Kahla gateway with a 50m long, covered passage through it.


The Skifa El-Kahla gateway
The passage under the gateway
Quiet, cobbled streets

Kairouan

Our main reason for visiting Kairouan was to see the Great Mosque, described as the most impressive and holiest Islamic monument in North Africa. It looks like a defensive structure from the outside. But inside we found a huge courtyard surrounded by shady, columned galleries. Surprisingly, we learned that the columns are all Roman, salvaged from buildings in Carthage and Sousse. There are even some blocks with Latin inscriptions on them. I guess it was an ancient form of reuse and recycle.

Entry to the Grand Mosque mosque was 12TD each which included several other sites. Women need to cover their heads and everyone must wear respectful clothing.

The walls of the mosque with a recycled Roman column
Salvaged Roman columns provide the support for the shaded galleries
The large courtyard looking towards the prayer rooms
Carpets adorn the prayer room into which we were able to look but not enter
Latin inscription on a reused block
One of the gates to the medina

Carpet Shopping

Another reason to visit Kairouan was to buy a carpet. We’d seen off a couple of attempts to direct us to a shop, one when we were standing right outside the gate in the photo above; a man approached telling us the medina was not through there but down a side street and we must hurry as it closed soon due to it being Ramadan. We thanked him and kept on walking through the gate, where of course we found the medina. However, when we left the mosque, a young man followed us out, saying he worked there and would direct us to a museum to which our ticket gave us entry.

We’d been caught, it was a carpet shop. But, the owners seemed nice, showing us to a comfy sofa and giving us tea and sweets. They then brought out a vivid selection of carpets. We liked them, but they were far too big for our tiny home. When we said this, they fetched their smaller ones. We were very, very close to buying, liking the pattern of one but it was really too long. With profuse apologies, we left and went to another store where we found one the right size for the boat.

Afterward, we enjoyed a wander around the untouristy medina. One area was dedicated to cobblers where a man was having shoes made for him whilst he waited.

Shaded walkways in the medina
The medina market was untouristy
Another gate to the medina
Doors of Kairouan

Exploring the Other Sights

After the medina, we sought out a couple more sites included on our tickets. The first was the Aghlabid basins, huge water tanks from the 8th century, fed by water from the mountains 36km away. They are the only two remaining from around 15 originally.

One of the Aghlabid basins, an ancient water storage tank

Close by was another mosque we could visit, this one named the Mosque of the Barber (or Mausoleum of Sidi Sahab) built as a veneration to a companion of Muhammed. This was smaller but more beautiful than the grand mosque and more ornate with walls covered in colourful tiles.

Beautiful tiled walkways
Colourful tile work
The central courtyard
They like to decorate the roundabouts in Kairouan

We used a louage to visit Kairouan, and were able to travel directly from Monastir for 6.5TD each way. The journey took about 50 minutes, however, the louage station is about a mile from the central mosque. We walked down a busy street towards the medina, each side lined with shops and stalls. There was a large metalwork area with new items being made and old ones being sold.

Sousse

Sousse is Monastir’s more famous neighbour, with a larger, UNESCO listed medina. Inside the solid, protecting walls, is a maze of twisty streets and covered souks selling everything from fish to shoes.

Looking towards Sousse ribat
The walls of the medina

We saw more tourists here than anywhere else, but sadly it looks like the 2015 terrorist attack has impacted tourism with closed down hotels along the seafront.

It’s still early season for beach holidays so the beach is empty

Day Trips From Monastir – Travel and Sightseeing Costs

Travel is incredibly cheap in Tunisia, at the time of our visit, the exchange rate was approx 3.3TD = €1.

ItemCost Per Person in TD
Louage Monastir to Sousse1.9
Louage Sousse to El Djem5.6
Coliseum and museum El Djem12
Metro train to Mahdia1.9
Louage to Kairouan6.4
Kairouan mosques and museums12
Metro train Sousse to Monastir1

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Thank you from Nichola & Colin


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