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Treasures
of Tunisia
Private Tour of : Chartage, Dougga ,Thuburbo Majus amd More
A
Grand 10 days - Tour starts Daily or weekly on Thursday
in Tunis
We'll take you through Carthage,Dougga , Thuburbo Majus desert oases,
curious troglodyte dwellings, Islamic splendors, a Roman amphitheater,
a medieval synagogue, and unspoiled beaches. You'll appreciate the breathtaking
beauty of a land that has drawn wanderers over the centuries
Compare
with the 14-day version
,
or the honeymoon edition
DAY 1 - TUNIS - Choose your own arrival
date/ Daily arrival - Year round.
This is a private tour - Private
vehicle, private chauffeur
Our local staff will meet you upon arrival at Tunis Carthage International
Airport. You'll be assisted with the formalities, and escorted to the
fine Hotel El Hana International. There will be time to relax and recuperate
from your journey, and enjoy the excellent facilities. If you wish,
you can adventure into the center of Tunis to start your exploration
of the winding alleys of the souk, filled with treasures of beaten brass
and basketry and carpets, and merchants who will welcome you with traditional
mint tea.
DAY
2 - THUBURBO MAJUS - DOUGGA - Private vehicle,
private chauffeur (BLD)
After breakfast at the hotel, we start
our full day to Thuburbo Majus:
This town of Libyan and then Punic origin sided with Carthage and thus
had to pay a tribute to Rome . Thuburbo Maius reached its apogee in
the 2nd c with 10,000 inhabitants and and impressive array of of monuments:
the forum, built in 161-2, the capitol (168) and a number of temples
(Temple of peace, Temple of Mercury, Temple of B'a alat, Temple of Caelestis,
Temple of Saturn) of which one later became a basilica, we'll tour as
well the market, Roman bath and the amphitheater. We'll enjoy lunch
at a local restaurant before proceeding to Dougga: A Numidian city,
mentioned in the 4th century B.C. by Diodorus the Sicilian as Tocai,
tukka was from the 2nd to 1st century B.C. one of the residences of
the Massyle Kings (MASSINISSA, MICIPSA,JUGURTHA). In Roman times the
municipal land was split into two parts; the Numidian city, and a pagus
(rural area) under the authority of Carthage, Whole again, thugga was
a municipium in 205 and honorary colonia in 261. With some 5,000 residents,
thugga had a municipal bourgeoisie which endowed her with a number of
rich monuments. The monuments are incredibly well preserved, allowing
us to imagine the infrastructure this small Proconsular town possessed:
12 temples, 3 of which were transformed into churches in the 4th Century
, 3 Roman baths, numerous fountains, aqueducts and more. Thugga slowly
lost its glory, though it still enjoyed brief periods of revival in
the 3rd, the 4th and 6th centuries (Byzantine fortress) .Though it was
never deserted, archaeological research required the removal of its
residents to a new Dougga lying below classical thugga. Return early
evening to our hotel in Tunis in time for dinner.
DAY 3 - CHARTAGE, SIDI BOU SAID (200 Kilometers) - Private
vehicle, private chauffeur (BLD)
we'll marvel at the ruins of Carthage, a true metropolis of the
ancient world, as evidenced by its theater, circus, baths, port installations,
and extensive urban plan. We'll lunch at a fine local restaurant, then
speed forward in time to the middle ages, as we visit the picture-perfect
Moorish village of Sidi Bou Said. With its whitewashed walls and narrow
laneways, it's the perfect setting as we stop for traditional mint tea.
Back in Tunis, we'll stop at the Bardo Museum, to view the most extensive
Roman mosaics in the world. We'll then
head
for the Medina, the old quarter of the city, with its warrens of shops
filled with wares ranging from humdrum to exotic.
DAY 4 - HAMMAMET, SOUSSE, EL DJEM, SFAX
, GABES, DJERBA -Private
vehicle, private chauffeur (BLD)
After breakfast, we'll set off to explore! Hammamet, a cosmopolitan
port where sun-worshippers from all over happily coexist with fishermen
and traditional ways. We'll stop at the port of El Kantaoui, and then
proceed back into time to venerable Sousse, once the Phoenician City
called Hadrumatum. We'll stroll through the medina, the old quarter,
cooled by sea breezes, and visit the museum as well as the Ribat, a
stronghold of the warriors of Islam.
Continuing to Sousse, once the Phoenician city of Hadrumatum,
we walk through the medina (old city), cooled by breezes off the harbor,
and visit the Roman catacombs and. Our next stop is El Jem, which
boasts a Roman coliseum very similar to the famous one in Rome.
Our busy day continues with a drive to the coastal city of Gabes, a
Roman outpost of old and a traditional market center where, for centuries,
goods from across the sea and across the desert have changed hands.
We'll visit the oasis, where palm groves and gardens flourish. We'll
then cross to Djerba, an island where Ulysses once encountered the legendary
Lotus-Eaters.
DAY 5 - DJERBA -Private
vehicle, private chauffeur (BLD)
Today we explore the old quarters, including the synagogue of Hara Sghira,
Hara Kebira with its modern Jewish community, and Guellala, with its
craft stalls, and to see the waterfront and fishing fleet, and the lively
town of Houmt Souk. After a lunch stop, we'll cross back to the mainland.
DAY
6 - MATMATA, KEBILI, DOUZ - ( 300 Kilometers) -Private
vehicle, private chauffeur
(BLD)
Our route takes us through terrain of increasingly sparse grasses and
shrubs, into the desert to Matmata. We'll stop to look in on a community
of miniature underground houses, where the earliest settlers sheltered
from the extremes of the desert above -- as do the Berbers of today.
We'll enjoy a full day of desert adventure, we'll
visit the village of Kebili, largest of a cluster of oases, islands
of life in a harsh landscape, then proceed to Douz, fabled as the Gateway
to the Sahara. There, a special treats waits, the opportunity to sample
a caravan trek! This close encounter with a camel is entirely at your
option!
DAY 7 - TOZEUR - (280 Kilometers) -
Private
vehicle, private chauffeur (BLD)
We
set off across the Chott El Djerid, a great dry salt lake, for Tozeur.
Here, we'll wonder at the ancient irrigation works .We'll
learn more about oases today . Despite the dryness of its surface, great
aquifers underlie the Sahara. Where they spill their riches out in springs,
they create the green havens of Tunisia's oases. We'll see a dramatic
example, as we explore the irrigated fields around Tozeur and motor
overland to the great mountain oases of Chebika and Tamerza ( in 4 wheel
drive) . We'll return to Tozeur late afternoon, after which you're free
until dinner. You can choose to enjoy the unique desert resort comforts
at your hotel. Or, you might decide to wander the streets of Tozeur,
look in on daily life, admire the classic North African houses built
around patios on terraces above a river fed by springs, and shop for
baskets and capes of camel hair.
DAY 8 - TOZEUR, GAFSA, SBEITLA, KAIROUAN,
TUNIS - Private
vehicle, private chauffeur (BLD)
We'll delve more into Tunisia's rich and varied past today, as we motor
overland through pleasant, rolling coastal lands. At Gafsa, we'll see
the Roman pools of Capsa, the ancient crossroads between desert oases
and the cultivated coastal lands. We'll wonder at the Roman ruins of
Suffetula, as well as the great mosque. Later in the day, we'll reach
Kairouan, an ancient, holy, and vibrant city noted for its historic
mosques and centers of learning. We'll lunch at the five-star Hotel
La Kasbah. Kairouan also is noted for its souk, and the crafting of
carpets and leather goods. Of course, there will be time to check out
these wares, before we depart to Tunis, or Hammamat where a night's
rest and dinner await us at the Hotel .
DAY 9 -At Leisure- (B)
Full day at leisure or relax on the beach .
DAY 10 -
DEPARTURE -(B)
After breakfast, our local personnel will escort you to the international
airport, where you'll start your homeward journey .Private
vehicle, private chauffeur
Prices
include:
-
Round-trip transportation between airport, all transfers are always
on a private basis, private air-conditioned vehicle, private chauffeur
.
- Hotel
Accommodations as mentioned in itinerary, in comfortable three or
four-star (first-class) hotels, with private facilities.
- Meals
as indicated from preset menu (B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner).
-
Guided sightseeing as indicated in air-conditioned coach, including
all admission fees
Not
Included:
- International
air transportation. Optional excursions, such as camel ride.
- Any
meal not specifically mentioned beverages, and personal expenses.
- Gratuities
for local personnel.
- Travel
insurance (available upon request).
-
Airport taxes.
RATES
per person in US$:
Arrive any date - Private tour / private guide
Sharing
in Double or triple Occupancy: $ 3240
In Single occupancy : $ 4460
The
Mediterranean resorts of Europe are wonderful, but they can
be crowded
and expensive. So where do discerning Europeans go to find the
perfect
laid-back, affordable Mediterranean vacation? Why, they go to
Tunisia, of
course!
The
clear blue water, the shimmering sun, the white sand beaches
are all the same in Tunisia, the southern shore of the Mediterranean,
just across the sea from Sicily and Sardinia. The prices are
lower, the pace is more relaxed, and the cuisine and service
in this former French colony are
French-inspired. (Everyone speaks French as well as Arabic,
and many people in hotels, restaurants and other tourist spots
speak some English, too.)
Tunisia's
history has always been linked to Europe's. Hannibal of Carthage
crossed from Tunisia to Europe with 30,000 men and a few dozen
elephants and humbled the Roman legions. Rome ultimately triumphed,
however, and Tunisia became the Roman province of Africa. Today
the picturesque ruins of great Roman cities are spread throughout
the Tunisian countryside.
Be
sure to see Tunisia's African side as well: its legacy of Umayyad,
Abbasid and Ottoman culture and cuisine, its picture-perfect
desert oases shaded by date palms, its markets filled with handicrafts
and exotic spices.
Want
a Mediterranean vacation like the Europeans
enjoy? Go to Tunisia!
The
Island of Djerba:
Legend has it that Djerba was the island
of the Lotus-Eaters where Odysseus stranded on his voyage through
the Mediterranean.
The
island, called Meninx until the third century AD, included three
principal towns. One of these, whose modern name is Burgu, is
found near Midoun in the center of the island. The remains of
a large town dating from the fourth century BC are signaled
by high mounds and dense pottery, as well as by a major tomb,
possibly that of a member of the Numidian royal family. Another
city, on the southeast coast of the island at Meninx, was a
major producer of murex dye, cited by Pliny the Elder as second
only to Tyre in this respect; substantial amounts of coloured
marble testify to its wealth. In the third century the same
town appears to have been called Girba, whence the present name
of the island. At least two bishops of Girba are known, Monnulus
and Vincent, who assisted at the Councils of Carthage in 255
and 525 (Toulotte, Géographie de l'Afrique chrétienne
Proconsulaire, Paris, 1892, pp. 353 and 380). Their cathedral
can be identified with ruins to the southwest of Meninx. A third
important town, on the south coast near the modern pottery village
of Guellala; was probably the ancient Haribus. The island was
densely inhabited in the Roman and Byzantine periods, and probably
imported much of the grain consumed by its inhabitants. A collapse
can be seen after 650 A.D., when the Justinianic plague may
have struck the port of Meninx.
Bassi Mosque During the Middle Ages, it was occupied by members
of the Kharejite sect, known as the Ibadites. the Christians
of Sicily and Aragon disputed its possession with the Ibadites
of the island. Remains from this period include numerous small
mosques dating as early as the twelfth century, as well as two
substantial forts. The island was controlled twice by the Norman
Kingdom of Sicily: in *1135 - 1158 and in *1284 - 1333. During
the second of these periods it was organised as a feudal lordship,
with the following Lords of Jerba: 1284 - 1305 Roger I, 1305
- 1307 and 1307 - 1310 Roger II (twice), 1310 Charles, 1310
Francis-Roger III; there were also royal governors, partially
overlapping with the lordship terms: c.1305 - 1308 Simon de
Montolieu, 1308 - 1315 Raymond Montaner.
In
1513, after three years in exile in Rome, the Fregosi family
returned to Genoa, Ottaviano was elected Doge, and his brother
Federigo Fregosi (archbishop, later cardinal), having become
his chief counsellor, was placed at the head of the army, and
defended the republic against internal dangers (revolts of the
Adorni and the Fieschi) and external dangers, notably suppression
of the Barbary piracy: Cortogoli, a corsair from Tunis, blockaded
the coast with a squadron, and within a few days had captured
eighteen merchantmen; being given the command of the Genoese
fleet, in which Andrea Doria was serving, Federigo surprised
Cortogoli before Bizerta, effected a descent on the island of
Djerba and returned to Genoa with great booty.
It
was also twice occupied by Spain: 1521 - 1524 & 1551 - 31
July 1560; again there were governors: 1521 - 1524 ..., 1560
Giovanni Andrea Doria.
The
island was temporarily the base of the Turkish corsair and admiral
Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha in the 16th century. In May 14, 1560,
the Ottoman fleet under the command of Piyale Pasha and Turgut
Reis severely defeated the Holy League of Philip II at the Battle
of Djerba.
Djerba
belonged to the Ottoman regency of Tunis until 1881, subsequently
under the French colonial protectorate, which became the modern
republic of Tunisia.
An
archaeological field survey of Jerba, carried out under the
auspices of the University of Pennsylvania, the American Academy
in Rome and the Tunisian Instiut National du Patrimoine between
1995 and 2000, revealed over 400 archaeological sites, including
many Punic and Roman villas.
In
the Ghriba synagogue bombing on April 11, 2002, a truck full
of explosives was detonated close to the famous synagogue, killing
21 people (14 German tourists, 5 Tunisians and 2 Frenchmen).
Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility. For a time tourists ceased
visiting Djerba, but normal activity has since resumed.
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