Of Romans, exotic souks and water pipes: Tunis and Carthage

Mar 2, 2010, 11:44 GMT

Tunis - The instructions on finding the hatmaker's shop sounded quite simple: go up the alley, turn left when you reach the end, and then right at the first intersection.

But those who don't have a good sense of orientation can easily get lost on their first visit in the medina, or old historic centre, of Tunis. In the labyrinthine streets, small cafes invite visitors to drink a cup of tea and smoke a water pipe.

Carpets, household wares, clothing and handicrafts are piled up in the semi-darkness of some shops or in the glaring neon light of other shops.

'Just one euro - come take a look' is the call heard from all sides. The most expensive merchants, above all the jewellers, are located around the grand mosque.

In the perfume souk or market, the sweet smell of jasmine wafts through the air. Book dealers, scarf makers, tanners and dyers - to this day they all have their place in the ancient merchants' quarters of the old city.

Things are distinctly quieter in the Bardo archaeology museum which houses a world-class collection of Roman mosaics. It is located in a former palatial district in an historic building some 4 kilometres west of the city centre.

'At more than 4,000 square metres we have the world's largest collection of Roman mosaics,' notes museum guide Nesrine Nasr.

The museum tour takes visitors along metres and metres of wall mosaics, and in some sections the artfully-crafted stone-puzzled pictures even decorate the floors. Along the way, visitors can marvel at small perfume bottles and hairpins from the glory days of what was then the city of Carthage.

Archaeologist Nasr is particularly proud of a mosaic portrait of the Roman poet Virgil which is nearly 2,000 years old. 'We admire it just as much as the Louvre does its Mona Lisa,' he says.

Mosaics and their greatly varying stones are, in a way, a symbol of Tunisia itself: Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals and later on, the French, left their mark.

Apartment houses and and an Art Deco-style theatre line the Avenue Bourguiba, one of the main boulevards of Tunis. And the many sidewalk cafes breathe a bit of French flair in the Orient. At night, the action is found in the smart neighbourhood La Marsa outside the downtown area.

Visitors can reach the historic district of Carthage outside the city by taking the commuter rail. 'Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam' ('And therefore I believe that Carthage must be destroyed') is the famous saying by Roman Senator Cato in the 2nd century BC which every student of Latin has been made to translate.

In the year 146 BC, following the Third Punic War, the Romans fulfilled their threat and levelled the city of their Mediterranean arch-rivals. Today some relatively modest ruins bear witness to the city that was once a world power. On the hills are the remains of a number of Roman villas.

Where in former times horses would pull majestic coaches over the broad paved streets, today only some industrious ants flit about the stones. On the other side of the hill a number of archways are still standing, the remains of the Thermal Baths of Antonius.

A few kilometres away in the Sidi Bou Said neighbourhood of villas and artists, Ichim Ben Said is sitting relaxed in his Cafe du Nade and puffing on a water pipe. Most of the guests are lounging on the beige-red-green velvet mats and drinking a hot tea spiced with pine seeds while smoking water pipes.

'My grandfather Taher served August Macke, Paul Klee and Louis Mouillet here,' the quiet cafe owner relates, referring to three major European painters of the Expressionist period.

In a mixture of pride and modesty, he leads a visitor to a corner where there's a wooden table and a wall decorated with framed letters and black-and-white photographs.

It was here where almost 100 years ago the three painters sat during their period in Tunis, and where later on such literary giants as Andre Gide, Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir and Michel Foucalt also gathered.