The capital which gave its name to the country lies on the coast of the El Bahira Lagoon. Its strategic importance was soon recognized. The tribe living here surrendered a part of the city later to be known as Carthage to the Phoenicians without a fight. The city which was large according to the standards of the age bothered many. [Foreign Language], these are the words of the Roman Senator Cato.
In 146 BC, the Romans took Cato’s advice to burn Carthage to the ground along with Tunis. The twin cities were rebuilt in Roman style and later became the second largest city of Africa. The Agrabis and some two hundred years later, the al Mahads also made it their capital.
In the 7th century, Arabian invaders again burnt Carthage to the ground, Tunis became the most influential North African port. The Turks wanted to conquer it in 1534 but they only succeeded after a short Spanish reign in 1574. The golden age of the city ended at that time. From 1881, similar to Morocco, Tunisia was also placed under French protectorate. Whether it was been official or not, it hasn’t been decided by historians, however it cannot be denied that the cities of Tunisia were enriched by European and French flavors. Of course, this is only true for the newly built parts of the cities. The medinas, the historical city centers remained Arabian.
There’s nothing more exotic to the European eye that an untouched Arabian city center or a bazaar. All of them are centers of Islamic architecture and culture but the most interesting is the spirit of the place. There are different shops near each other on the narrow streets. The little shops of the butchers, grocers and spice traders form streets as well as the shops of the carpet makers and coppersmiths.
Because of the scorching sun, sheets are hung above the alleys. There are small mosques and Koran schools in the bazaars that in earlier times cons used to stand here as well. We’re confined on such a myriad of smells, colors and sounds which no cold supermarket could ever match. The merchants wear small brown hats, a fez or turbans. The shop is usually also a workshop where a craftsman prepared our goods, daggers, chest, chest sets and copper plates on the spot. Oriental sweets and baked pastries are also popular. The copper smiths engrave the names of the buyer’s choice on the copper plates. There are some goods which don’t need any work like the desert rose which is a gypsum crystal.
There are many mosques, mausoleums, palaces and minarets to be seen in the city. One must see the Bardo National Museum which is situated some five kilometers from the center among the buildings. There’s a line of palm trees leading to the building that stands in a nice park. It was opened in 1888. The main ruling element and the 40-room exhibition is time.
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