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In the 9th century BC,the Phoenicians established what would later become prominent trading ports along a small stretch of North African coastline. Greatest of these was the city of Carthage, rivaling the Roman Republic of the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC for control over the western Mediterranean. Once fortified by heavy imposing ramparts 23 miles in length, Carthage on approach from the sea was a large and impressive town – one of the largest in Hellenistic times. Behind its gates stood a town hall, numerous market places, a theatre, and a citadel perched high on the Byrsa hill.
Carthage was eventually conquered by the Romans in 146 BC, and Tunisia became one of the granaries of Rome until the territory was overrun by the Vandals with the fall of the Empire. The Byzantines then took over for about a century before the Arabs arrived in 670. Under the leadership of Uqba ibn Nafi, the city of Kairouan was founded and the Great Mosque was built. But the land swap did not finish there. Next, the Fatimids, the Normans, and the Ottomans each took turns at rule over Tunisia.
Tunisia today boasts some remarkable relics of Roman civilization, an inspiring collection of early Islamic religious structures, and in some cases both together. The architectural ruble left behind in Tunisia from earlier reigns did not go to waste. Combining architectural skill with architectural remnants, the Arabs built structures to rival Roman creation for the hearts and minds of builders the world over.
The Kairouan Mosque holds the columns, bricks, and beams from an abandoned Greco-Roman fortress that once stood at the site. While rebuilt several times until 862 when it took on its present form, the mosque has since become the inspiration for most every other built in North Africa since that time. The T-plan of the construction – with aisles expanding perpendicular to the qibla wall and one running parallel to it – is also found in the Great Mosques of Sousse, Sfax, Mahadiya, Monastir, and Tunis. The square shaped minaret, graduated and decorated by blind arches, has been recreated from Morocco to Moorish Andalusia. The boxy minaret remains synonymous with North African design.
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The Tunisian home is the Bedouin tent but also the palm shaded villa with inner courtyard. It is the white washed seaside hamlet and the molded mud “moon-hut” at the edge of the desert.
The multi-tiered, barrel vaulted ghorfas of the south have all the appearance of beehives with steps. So seemingly out of this world are the houses of Matmata, George Lucas chose the location to film episodes from his Star Wars. Organic shapes form the windows, doorways, and rooflines of ghorfas and have the pleasing effect of creating aesthetic harmony between the realms of man and nature.
The coastal Tunisian home stand nestled between narrow alleyways in low-key towns overlooking the sea. Glistening white in the brilliant North African sun, it features a wooden door like a family crest – fabulous with its iron studded, patterned, and painted blue façade. Homes in the towns of Sidi Bou Said and Hammamet are known for their cement stucco constructions, but in earlier times, baked brick, stone brick, and ashlar were used to build homes along the Tunisian coast.
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