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Amphitheatres, ancient mariners and Lost Arks – 13 fine facts about Tunisia

Sidi Bou Said, in north-eastern Tunisia - Copyright 2012 Giulia Fiori
Sidi Bou Said, in north-eastern Tunisia - Copyright 2012 Giulia Fiori

It has been in the headlines for dreadful reasons in the last three years - but beyond the terror attacks which pushed in onto the front pages in the summer of 2015, Tunisia (discovertunisia.com) is an intriguing country, full of hidden corners and interesting places.

Today - March 20 - is its Independence Day, which is surely a good enough reason to run through the following facts about a fascinating fragment of North Africa...

1. It is the smallest piece of a big jigsaw...

North Africa does not do subtlety when it comes to the size of its states. Every one of the five African countries which claims a shoreline on the Mediterranean is a big beast of the continent. With one exception. Algeria is the biggest of the lot, at 919,595 square miles, while Libya is the fourth largest (679,362 square miles). Egypt (386,662 square miles) and Morocco (172,414 square miles) are not shy and retiring in scale either. But then there is Tunisia - which, at 63,170 square miles, ranks as only the 35th largest of the 52 nations which make up the landmass. It sits squished between Libya and Algeria - and would fit into the latter, with its huge swathe of Saharan sand, just over 14 times.

Tunisia locations
Tunisia locations

2. ...but is still pretty big

Small in North African terms is large anywhere else. Tunisia's 63,170 square miles make it bigger than Bangladesh, Tajikistan and Greece, and only just smaller than Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia and Uruguay. There's a lot of it to see, should you so choose.

3. Its independence was from France

In 1956, to be precise. Tunisia fell under Parisian rule in 1881 during the European carve-up of the continent (neighbouring Algeria had been invaded by French troops in 1830), and remained there for 75 years. The legacy of this era is most visible in the capital Tunis. Specifically in the Cathédrale St Vincent-de-Paul, which was built between 1893 and 1897, and in the streets around it - Rue Charles de Gaulle, Rue d'Allemagne, Rue d'Espagne - whose names talk of a country on the opposite side of the Mediterranean.

The Cathédrale St Vincent-de-Paul
The Cathédrale St Vincent-de-Paul

4. It does Rome better than Italy

Well, that's one line of argument, anyway. Not the bars, burrata and bravado side of Rome, it should be said, but the ancient version. At least, that staple of the Roman empire, the amphitheatre. The three-tiered arena which rears up above the southerly town of El Djem is a masterpiece of the form - a great curve of honey-coloured limestone which was crafted between 228 and 238 AD, and held up 35,000 spectators at peak capacity.

This, admittedly, means it was always far smaller than the Colosseum, which could seat up to 80,000 spectators, cheering gladiators to their deaths. But the visual similarities are remarkable. Not, of course, that the comparisons extend to visitor numbers. You can expect to queue for an hour to enter the Colosseum. You can currently walk around the El Djem amphitheatre with barely another soul for company.

El Djem amphitheatre - Credit: NENAD DRUZIC
El Djem amphitheatre Credit: NENAD DRUZIC

5. Rome left a mark in other senses

Before the ancient Romans stomped their boots across Tunisia - between 149BC and the middle of the fifth century AD - another great ancient civilisation swelled up on the edge of the Mediterranean.

What is now Tunis was once Carthage - a city which thrived until exactly 146BC, when Rome destroyed it with such decisiveness that there is very little of it left. Indeed, if you visit the archaeological remains which lie strewn some 12 miles north-east of the modern capital, you find that most of the key structures were built by the conquerors. The Baths of Antoninus, which stand as the biggest remnant of this lost city, were carved out between 145 and 162AD, during the reign of - as their name suggests - the Roman emperor Antoninus. But for all this, they are a remarkable reminder of life two millennia ago, pitched on the very edge of the sea.

The Baths of Antoninus - Credit: FOTOLIA/DASHA PETRENKO
The Baths of Antoninus Credit: FOTOLIA/DASHA PETRENKO

6. It once had lions...

It is all but certain that the Barbary lion - the greatest big cat of North Africa - is extinct in the wild. This noble beast, which once roamed across the sands of Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, identifiable by its distinctive dark mane, was hunted to the point of obliteration in the 19th and 20th centuries, and now survives only in zoos.

But its presence lingers. Roman mosaics in Tunisia's key archaeological institutions - notably the Bardo Museum in Tunis (bardomuseum.tn), but also the El Djem Museum (patrimoinedetunisie.com.tn) - growl and snarl with the images of Barbary lions in the throes of the hunt, pulling apart animal carcasses with bared teeth and extended claws.

A Barbary lion in mosaic form at the Bardo Museum - Credit: Sinda BF
A Barbary lion in mosaic form at the Bardo Museum Credit: Sinda BF

7. ...and may have leopards

The Saharan leopard and its cousin the Saharan cheetah may survive in small numbers in the southern sands of Algeria and Tunisia. Alas, chances of spotting them are very limited. If you want to go in search of wildlife in Tunisia, you are best to ignore the feline. Naturetrek (01962 733 051; naturetrek.co.uk) runs a nine-day guided break (from £1,695 per person, including flights; next departure in October 2019) which heads to Bouhedma National Park to seek out the scimitar-horned oryx and the dorcas gazelle, and to Lake Ichkeul National Park for its many feathered inhabitants. This latter protected enclave lurks in the very north of the country, and welcomes thousands of migratory birds every year, including ducks, geese, storks and pink flamingoes. 

23 mesmerising photographs of Africa from space
23 mesmerising photographs of Africa from space

8. It kept up with the Jones

The connection between Tunisia and Star Wars - notably its appearance on camera as the desert planet Tatooine in the original 1977 movie - is well known. But it also made a fine backdrop to much of the 1981 classic Raiders of the Lost Ark, approximating Egypt in the late Thirties.

Sidi Bouhel Canyon, near Tozeur, in the west of the country, makes a notable appearance in the scene where Indiana Jones threatens to blow up the Ark of the Covenant. Kairouan, in the east, meanwhile, framed the iconic "fight" between the hero and a swordsman - where Jones, bored of his opponent's overly showy weapon-wielding, simply shoots him. The roving archaeologist's irritation is famously real. Harrison Ford was suffering from dysentery at this point in the filming cycle. He and Steven Spielberg decided to cut what had been written as an extensive choreographed ballet of blades and whips into a lone bullet and a scowl of annoyance.

9. Kairouan is a world-heritage wonder

Kairouan, which is located some 100 miles to the south of Tunis, would certainly bridle at the suggestion that it is merely a film set. It is included on the Unesco World Heritage list - thanks, in the most part, to its Great Mosque, which dates to 670AD, and is one of the planet's oldest sites of Islamic worship.

Unesco, which inducted it into its culture club in 1988, describes it as "not only one of the major monuments of Islam but also a universal architectural masterpiece" - and says that Kairouan is "a place of outstanding diffusion of Arabo-Muslim civilisation... which bears unique witness to the first centuries of this civilisation, and its architectural and urban development".

Kairouan - Credit: NICO TONDINI
Kairouan Credit: NICO TONDINI

10. Odysseus came here. Probably

Many dots on the Mediterranean map claim to be among the locations outlined in The Odyssey - the Greek poet Homer's tale of the warrior Odysseus's long-winded attempt to return home to the island of Ithaca from the Trojan War. Various misfortunes, divine interventions and improbable cases of extreme weather lead him on a merry dance around the Mediterranean, and, at one point, he washes up in the "land of the Lotus-eaters" - an outpost of lethargic souls who exist on a diet of fruits and plants with a noticeably narcotic effect. Odysseus and his men barely escape before they drift into a soporific state - like the Flopsy Bunnies, only with beards.

The Greek historian Polybius would later identify the outcrop in question as Djerba, an island which waits just off Tunisia's south-east coast. You won't find woozy characters from classical mythology if you venture there in the present day - but you will find a decent range of comfortable beach hotels. A seven-night stay at the island's five-star Radisson Blu Palace Resort, flying from Heathrow on May 12, costs from £1,445 per person, with breakfast, through Expedia (020 3564 0868; expedia.co.uk). 

Odysseus. Last week. Sort of
Odysseus. Last week. Sort of

11. Tunisia is just 44 miles from Europe

Stand on the beach at Kelibia, on Tunisia's north-easterly Cap Bon peninsula, and you are 44 miles from Pantelleria, a satellite of Sicily. On clear days, the Tunisian coast is visible from this Italian volcanic outcrop - a fact remarked upon by characters in film director Luca Guadagnino's 2015 movie A Bigger Splash, which is set on the island.

12. It has Africa's second longest life expectancy

According to figures released by the World Health Organisation in February last year, Tunisia has a high age of life expectancy - 75.3 years. Only Algeria (75.6) fares better.

13. You can book a beach escape in Hammamet

The 2015 terror attacks in Sousse were a devastating blow to the Tunisian holiday industry - and many of the tour operators you would expect to offer breaks to the country's historic sites have yet to return. However, if you fancy a week on the beach, you can do so via Thomas Cook (01733 224 330; thomascook.com), which began providing fly-and-flop breaks in Tunisia again in February. A seven-night all-inclusive stay at the four-star Bel Azur Hammamet, on the east coast, flying from Manchester on May 18, costs from £502 per person (two sharing), including transfers.

Hammamet - Credit: AP
Hammamet Credit: AP