Kairouan - Bir Barouta

A few yards along Rue des Cuirs in Kairouan is the blue entrance door of the Bir Barouta, a 17th century draw-well on the upper floor of the building. Here a dromedary, its eyes bound, provides the motive power for a water-wheel which raises water in pottery jars. Originally the water was collected here and distributed in conduits to houses in the town. According to legend the well is connected by an underground channel with the Zemzem spring in Mecca. This is now a rather unhappy spectacle laid on for the benefit of tourists in quest of Oriental atmosphere.