Why this ride
From Houmt El Souk it runs 60 km to Houmt El Souk; allow about 1 h 18 of riding. It goes by way of Mosquée Sidi Zekri, Mosquée Moghzel and back through Mosquée Sidi Zekri.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Eglise Saint Nicolas and Mosquée Moghzel
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 60 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 18
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Eglise Saint Nicolas
Houmt Souk is the island's main town, a place of whitewashed arcades, small squares and a busy fishing harbour, and the church of St Nicolas gives it a reminder that Djerba has never been exclusively one thing. The island has been home to Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities for centuries, and its location on the trade routes of the central Mediterranean brought Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Spaniards and Ottomans. In 1560, a Spanish and allied fleet was defeated nearby by an Ottoman force under Dragut, and the victors built a tower of the skulls of the dead beside the harbour, which stood until the nineteenth century. A monument now marks the site.
Read the complete Eglise Saint Nicolas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Eglise Saint Nicolas is where the day begins. Next is Mosquée Sidi Zekri.
2. Mosquée Sidi Zekri
Sidi Zekri is one of the many small religious buildings of Djerba, an island where it sometimes seems that every field has a whitewashed dome in it. The name suggests a local holy man, the sort of marabout who is buried under a domed tomb and whose tomb draws believers seeking help with illness or family troubles. Many such places are small and quiet, and are looked after by neighbours rather than by any big institution.
Read the complete Mosquée Sidi Zekri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mosquée Sidi Zekri comes up about 13 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mosquée Moghzel.
3. Mosquée Moghzel
Djerba is a flat, low island off the south coast of Tunisia, joined to the mainland by a Roman causeway and a ferry, and its landscape of olive groves, palms and whitewashed farmhouses is dotted with small mosques that look more like fortresses than places of prayer. The Moghzel mosque is one of them. Djerba has a long Ibadi tradition, a branch of Islam that is neither Sunni nor Shia, and many of the island's villages are Berber speaking, with architecture suited to hard times: thick walls, buttresses, small domes, and a plain whitewashed look that fits the sun and the sea.
Read the complete Mosquée Moghzel write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 31 km into the recorded legs you reach Mosquée Moghzel. Next is back through Mosquée Sidi Zekri.
4. back through Mosquée Sidi Zekri
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mosquée Sidi Zekri write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mosquée Sidi Zekri, late in the day. Next is Eglise Saint Nicolas.
5. Eglise Saint Nicolas
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Eglise Saint Nicolas write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Eglise Saint Nicolas. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Eglise Saint Nicolas to Mosquée Sidi Zekri
Eglise Saint Nicolas → Mosquée Sidi Zekri is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mosquée Sidi Zekri to Mosquée Moghzel
Mosquée Sidi Zekri → Mosquée Moghzel is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mosquée Moghzel to back through Mosquée Sidi Zekri
Mosquée Moghzel → back through Mosquée Sidi Zekri is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mosquée Sidi Zekri to Eglise Saint Nicolas
back through Mosquée Sidi Zekri → Eglise Saint Nicolas is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.