Why this ride
From Midoun it runs 75 km to Midoun; allow about 1 h 33 of riding. On the way it passes Mosquée Abou Messouer, Mosquée Imghar and back through Mosquée Abou Messouer. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Mosquée Esselaouti and Mosquée Imghar
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 75 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 33
- 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. Mosquée Esselaouti
The east side of Djerba is the tourist side, with beaches, hotels and golf, but the road to this mosque runs a little inland from the sand, among farms and small villages, and it shows the older island that the resorts mostly hide. The nearest real town is Midoun, about five kilometres away, the second market centre of the island, with a lively weekly market where farmers sell fruit, spices, textiles and handmade pottery. Houmt Souk, the capital, is more than ten kilometres to the north-west.
Read the complete Mosquée Esselaouti write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mosquée Esselaouti is where the day begins. Next is Mosquée Abou Messouer.
2. Mosquée Abou Messouer
Abou Messouer sits closer to Houmt Souk than most of the island's mosques, in a landscape of small farms and walled gardens, and it is a handy place to understand what makes a Djerban mosque different. The building is a compact block of white plaster, with the typical heavy buttresses, a small dome over the prayer hall and an outdoor space where people gather. The old Ibadi mosques were not only places of prayer but community centres, courts and schools, and some still hold a small Koranic school for children.
Read the complete Mosquée Abou Messouer write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Mosquée Abou Messouer comes up about 18 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mosquée Imghar.
3. Mosquée Imghar
Djerba's mosques look like small fortresses, which is more or less what they once were. Imghar, in the interior of the island, is one of the group of Ibadi mosques whose whitewashed walls, thick buttresses and low domes give them the air of a farmhouse that has been trained for war. Ibadism is a branch of Islam that predates the Sunni-Shia split, and it survives today mainly in Oman, parts of North Africa and here on Djerba, where it has shaped the island's culture for over a thousand years.
Read the complete Mosquée Imghar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 38 km into the recorded legs you reach Mosquée Imghar. Next is back through Mosquée Abou Messouer.
4. back through Mosquée Abou Messouer
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mosquée Abou Messouer write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Mosquée Abou Messouer, late in the day. Next is Mosquée Esselaouti.
5. Mosquée Esselaouti
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Mosquée Esselaouti write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Mosquée Esselaouti. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Mosquée Esselaouti to Mosquée Abou Messouer
Mosquée Esselaouti → Mosquée Abou Messouer is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mosquée Abou Messouer to Mosquée Imghar
Mosquée Abou Messouer → Mosquée Imghar is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mosquée Imghar to back through Mosquée Abou Messouer
Mosquée Imghar → back through Mosquée Abou Messouer is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Mosquée Abou Messouer to Mosquée Esselaouti
back through Mosquée Abou Messouer → Mosquée Esselaouti is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.