Tunis-Carthage
Why go?
In Tunis, east meets west. It’s two capitals rolled into one.
The new city, created by the French in the 19th century, with
boulevards, cafés and patîsseries, is a tidy grid of
streets. Adjoining it is the once-walled medina, founded by the
Arabs in the 8th century, fulfilling all your expectations of the
exotic east, packed with narrow labyrinthine lanes. At its tangled
centre is the Great Mosque, a sudden oasis of space. Out in the
western suburbs is the wonderful Bardo museum, with the
world’s finest collection of Roman mosaics – the art
was developed to its dizziest heights by African artisans. Don't
forget to check out the utterly charming whitewashed clifftop
village of Sidi Bou Saïd.
Beyond the city lies the remains of the civilisation of Carthage
where Queen Dido killed herself for love of Roman Aeneas (according
to Virgil), Hannibal planned to cross the Alps with his elephants,
and the Phoenicians ruled the Mediterranean until the Romans
eventually triumphed after three bitter wars and razed the city to
the ground, before building their own city. Sights include a
museum, excavated Punic houses, huge Roman baths, a Roman theatre
and amphitheatre, Roman villas and the Punic Ports. You can survey
the site from its ancient heart, on Byrsa Hill, with extraordinary,
fabulous views along the vivid blue Tunis-Gulf coast.