Medenine, Tunisia

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During the French protectorate it was a garrison town and the administrative center of southern Tunisia.

The town originally consisted of an assemblage of numerous ksour (fortified storehouses), with a total of over 6,000 ghorfas. In these ksour (singular ksar) the semi-nomadic families kept their possessions while they went on their wanderings, each family having its own ghorfa (store-room, granary). These little barrel-vaulted cells were built side by side and one over the other in honeycomb-like blocks up to six storys high. During the 1960s most of them were pulled down, and Médenine is now a predominantly modern town. On the road to Djorf there are still a few two-story ghorfas, now occupied by souvenir shops.

There are large markets in Médenine on Mondays and Thursdays.

Access

Médenine lies on GP 1 (Gabès-Ben Gardane), 73km/45mi south of Gabès, 77km/48mi northwest of Ben Gardane and 62km/39mi west of Zarzis. Regular bus services to and from Tataouine, Djorf, Zarzis and Ben Gardane; bus station (Gare Routière) on Tataouine road.