Archaeological site and Medina of Tunis

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Archaeological site

   The Cap Bon peninsula is where Tunisia stretches a thin arm toward Sicily, only about a hundred and forty kilometres of water away, and this stretch of its north-east coast is the quietest part. Close to here lies Kerkuane, the only Punic town in the Mediterranean we know to have been abandoned rather than built over. It was probably taken by Roman forces around the middle of the third century BC, in the First Punic War, and nobody came back, so what you see is a Carthaginian town frozen in a street plan: walled blocks, a grid of lanes, courtyards, wells and, remarkably, houses with their own bathrooms and hip baths.

   Read the complete Archaeological site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Archaeological site is where the day begins. Next is Village of Sidi Bou Saïd.

2. 2. Village of Sidi Bou Saïd

   Sidi Bou Saïd is a village painted in two colours, white and a deep Mediterranean blue, and rising above the Gulf of Tunis on a cliff that falls to the sea. The whitewashed houses, blue doors and window grilles, studded iron nails and bougainvillea spilling over walls are known the world over, though it was a conscious choice: in the early twentieth century a French baron and musicologist, Rodolphe d'Erlanger, who built a palace here, helped to promote a local style and then the authorities protected it by rule. The village is named after a Sufi saint, Abu Said al-Baji, who lived and taught here in the thirteenth century and whose tomb draws pilgrims.

   Read the complete Village of Sidi Bou Saïd write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Village of Sidi Bou Saïd comes up about 149 km into the recorded legs. Next is Medina of Tunis.

3. 3. Medina of Tunis

   Tunis begins in the narrow lanes. The medina, the old walled city, lies on a low ridge between the salt lake and the Sebkha of Ariana, and the main street runs uphill from the Bab el Bahr, the Sea Gate, towards the Zitouna Mosque, the Mosque of the Olive Tree. The mosque's origins go back to the late seventh century, soon after the Arabs founded Tunis, and the city grew around it. Its great period came under the Hafsid dynasty in the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, when Tunis was a wealthy capital with libraries, schools and merchants trading across the Mediterranean. Later came the Ottomans and the beys, who added palaces and fountains.

   Read the complete Medina of Tunis write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   At least about 169 km into the recorded legs you reach Medina of Tunis. Next is Sector of Bib Knissia Basilica.

4. 4. Sector of Bib Knissia Basilica

   Carthage is a name that carries more weight than the site can show, because the Romans did their best to erase it. According to tradition, Phoenician settlers from Tyre founded the city in the ninth century BC, led by Queen Dido, and it grew into a naval and trading power that fought Rome in three wars. Hannibal came from here, the general who crossed the Alps with elephants. In 146 BC Rome destroyed the city after a long siege, and a century later it was refounded as a Roman colony and became one of the great cities of the western Mediterranean. The Vandals took it in 439, the Byzantines in 533, and the Arabs in 698.

   Read the complete Sector of Bib Knissia Basilica write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Sector of Bib Knissia Basilica, about halfway.

5. 5. Medina of Tunis

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Medina of Tunis write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Medina of Tunis sits at 152 km, about halfway. Next is back through Sector of Bib Knissia Basilica.

6. 6. back through Sector of Bib Knissia Basilica

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Sector of Bib Knissia Basilica write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Sector of Bib Knissia Basilica comes up about 222 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Medina of Tunis.

7. 7. back through Medina of Tunis

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Medina of Tunis write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 239 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Medina of Tunis. Next is back through Village of Sidi Bou Saïd.

8. 8. back through Village of Sidi Bou Saïd

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Village of Sidi Bou Saïd write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Village of Sidi Bou Saïd, late in the day. Next is Archaeological site.

9. 9. Archaeological site

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Archaeological site write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 381 km.