Tunis - Surroundings
The surroundings of Tunis include the select residential towns and seaside resorts of La Marsa, the Aqueduct of Hadrian and the little agricultural town of Zaghouan.
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Must-see attractions nearby:
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Bordj Cedria
2km/1.25mi south of GP 1, to the west of Soliman Plage, is the Turkish fort of Bordj Cedria.
Gammarth
Below the market square of La Marsa is the palm-shaded Avenue de la Corniche, which runs along the coast to Gammarth. Just before the town is a French military cemetery, from the highest point of which there are beautiful views over the Gulf of Tunis, extending in clear weather to Cap Bon.
La Mohammedia, Tunisia
(Near Tunis)
15km/9mi south of Tunis on GP 3 is the village of La Mohammedia (reached by leaving Tunis on the motorway to Sousse and in 8km/5mi turning off into GP 3, the Kairouan road; signposted). Here can be seen the ruins of a palace built by Ahmed Bey (1842-47), who set out to create a Tunisian Versailles. The project, however, was brought to an untimely end by his early death.
Raouad
Northwest of Cap Gammarth is the endless-seeming beach of Raouad, another very popular resort for the people of Tunis in summer.
Zaghouan, Tunisia
(Near Tunis)
The little agricultural town of Zaghouan (pop. 8,000), at the foot of Djebel Zaghouan (1,295m/4,249ft), is reached from Tunis by way of GP 3 and MC 133. This was the site of Roman Ziqua, of which nothing is left but an arched gateway (restored) at the foot of the main street. The town has an attractive old Medina with a maze of irregular streets dominated by two minarets, one Hanafite and the other Malikite. At the upper end of the town is the green-tiled Zaouia of Sidi Ali Azouz, Zaghouan's patron saint.
Nymphaeum
(Near Tunis)
Two km/1.25mi from Zaghouan, higher up, is a Roman nymphaeum, known in Arabic as Ain el Kasbah and in French as the Temple des Eaux. The small square cella of the shrine was built over the principal spring (now dry). On either side of the cella was a semicircular portico enclosing a terrace open to the northwest. Here, opposite the cella, is a large basin in the form of a figure of eight, the starting-point of the 124km/74mi long aqueduct carrying water to Carthage. From here a road runs up to a viewpoint at an altitude of 975m/3,200ft, with radio and television aerials. In antiquity the hill was covered with forests of thuya; nowadays the slopes above 600m/2,000ft bear a dense growth of macchia. There are attractive trips from Zaghouan into the beautiful surrounding country.
