Chief town of the governorate of Monastir
Situation and characteristics
Monastir, capital of its governorate and a university town, lies at the tip of a small rocky peninsula at the south end of the Gulf of Hammamet. It has a small walled Medina and an imposing old Ribat, which stood within sight of the one in Sousse.
Monastir, the birthplace in 1903 of ex-President Bourguiba, has developed within the last twenty years into one of the most popular seaside resorts in Tunisia. Around the town, particularly to the north at Dkhila and Skanès, are extensive hotel complexes withmi of broad beaches of fine sand.
In addition to the tourist trade the processing of olive oil and the extraction of salt make important contributions to the town's economy. There is a small fishing Harbor, but the fisheries are of little economic importance. During the summer there are son et lumière shows in the Ribat.
History
The Phoenicians established a trading station named Rous Penna on this strategic site, and under the Romans this became the town of Ruspina. During the civil war with Pompey (49-46 B.C.) Caesar made this his headquarters in North Africa and surrounded it with a triple ring of walls. When the Arabs established a chain of fortified monasteries along the North African coast in the eighth century they recognized the strategic value of this site at the tip of the peninsula and built the Ribat from which the town takes its name (Greek monasterion). From here the soldier-monks launched a series of campaigns against the Christian island of Sicily. After the decline of Kairouan Monastir for a time took over its role as the holiest Islamic town in Tunisia. The Ribat retained its military importance into the Turkish period, when the Beys made it a powerful stronghold. During the French protectorate, however, Monastir degenerated into an unimportant fishing and market town, which began to revive only after Tunisia achieved independence. It owes its present prosperity mainly to the development of mass tourism over the last twenty years. It now has some 20 hotels with a total of 9,000 beds.
Access
Monastir lies 22km/14mi southeast of Sousse (MC 82) and 165km/ 103mi from Tunis (motorway from Tunis to Hammamet, then GP 1 to Sousse and from there MC 82 to Hammamet).
The international airport of Monastir-Skanès is 7km/4.5mi from the town center on the road to Sousse. There are scheduled services to and from Tunis and Djerba and all European capitals, and daily charter flights during the summer.
On the west side of the Medina is the station of the Métro du Sahel, from which there are regular services to the airport, Sousse (hourly), Tunis and Gabès. From the bus station (Gare Routière) at Bab el Gharbi, on the southwest side of the Medina, there are regular services to Tunis, Sousse, Mahdia, Sfax and other places in the Sahel.
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