Losing one's head over Tunisia is not new. It happened to the Phoenicians when they decided to found their 'New City' on this strategic peninsula in North Africa and later ended up conquering the Mediterranean under the name of Carthage. And although it is true that the Romans had no qualms about destroying it, they soon decided to set up a colony on the rubble , which they covered with the hundreds of mosaics that are now exhibited in the Bardo National Museum.
Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Ottomans and French also succumbed to its charms, those that the world is hoping will flourish again after the Jasmine Revolution of 2011. How to do it? With art and hospitality . Two infallible triggers that –in the form of galleries, artistic residences and hotels– have awakened our unconditional desire for a country so addictive, creative and welcoming that even the Trojan hero Aeneas himself was forced to abandon, against the dictates of his heart, because once you lose your head over Tunis there is no Rome to fix it.
Dome in the National Museum of the Bardo.
To find emerging Tunisian talent, you don't have to go far, just as far as Bhar Lazreg, where B7L9 Art Station is located. an artistic center that offers a complete and free annual program full of exhibitions and cultural events. Artists from North Africa and the Middle East flock to it to experiment, develop and display their work with total freedom and patronage. Like the creative studio Jinn that, under huge graffiti in Arabic letters, invites us to wash our hands in an installation full of soaps, or Sbai Gnaoui, a sculptor and resident artist who builds miniature cities with mundane objects collected from the garbage that “become nocturnal sci-fi techno-dystopias” as soon as the light goes out.
Inspired by the rich Tunisian heritage and revisited by ingenious artisans, these are the pieces exhibited and sold by patron Lamia Bousnina Ben Ayed at Musk and Amber Gallery, who would also curate an exhibition on regional design for Dubai's Downtown Design that, With its events, it serves as a cultural gear and promoter of the modernization of the country. You may not know who Seyf Dean Laouiti is, a regular at the gallery, but we'll tell you that as creative director of Narciso is revolutionizing the world of fashion with transgressive garments with which he parades at Fashion Week Tunis.
Surrounded by works by contemporary Tunisian artists you will sleep in Maison Dedine , a Small Luxury Hotels of the World that hangs from the cliffs of Sidi Bou Said, a charming coastal town that served as a holiday and summer resort for nineteenth-century Tunisian society . A note: that all the houses in this picturesque corner have been painted white and blue since then is not by chance, but because of a decree (still in force) promoted by Baron Rodolphe d'Erlanger, who – after building a palace in it – He decided to safeguard his essence in this way.
Chammakhi Ali, at the door of his antique dealer.
A work of art in itself is The Dar El Jeld Hotel & Spa, located next to the Souks of Tunis, a covered bazaar where slaves were once sold and today gold jewellery. As in a fairy tale Arabian Nights, as soon as you cross its yellow door with geometric rivets it will be impossible to escape from the spell. He imagines an arcaded patio with fountains and lemon trees, walls covered with ceramic tiles worthy of a palace and suites in which to share the dream with marble bathrooms, fanciful plasterwork and columns on which history is based.
You will find all this and much more in this five-star boutique located in the heart of the medina of Tunis. , declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Because you have to add a hamman recovered in his spa. Halfway between traditional and westernized techniques, you won't get rid of sweating in the caldarium or the tfal ointment (scented natural clay); much less of the skirmish with the kessa, the glove with which they will rip (literally and metaphorically) every one of your dead cells. Remember that there are no considerations, Turkish baths were invented to cleanse body and soul.
And to recover the tension? Stop by one of their restaurants : The traditional one on the candlelit patio is charming and the one on the roof, captained by chef Xalid Ghariani, is surprising.
Seyf Dean Laouiti at Musk and Amber Gallery.
Leila Ben Gacem, nicknamed the godmother of the medina, tells us that Dar Ben-Gacem, in addition to being a boutique hotel, is a recovery project of the architectural and artistic heritage of the historic center of the city from Tunisia. “It was the Tunisian craftsmen who molded his soul”, explains the creator of this guest house that acts as a socio-cultural catalyst and whose objective is to maximize the economic impact on the neighborhood. Any authentic experience you can imagine, Leila will be able to get it for you, from an Arabic calligraphy workshop to a cooking class in which you will learn to prepare (and then try) lablabi, a typical national dish based on soup and chickpeas, flavored with cumin, served on pieces of bread hard and topped with an egg.
It won't be easy to choose in which of the two old houses (dar) that make up Dar Ben-Gacem to stay. The one on Rue du Pasha was built around the 17th century by the Aoun family, master artisan perfumers who lived there for 300 years. And Dar Ben Gacem –Kahia–, with boutique-style decoration, boasts a dream rooftop of those that tear your heart out ... and they return it to you in the form of an emoticon on social networks.
Lounge overlooking the Gulf of Tunis at Maison Dedine.
Another roof terrace in the medina that you should not miss is that of the antique dealer Ed-Dar , a family business for three generations currently run by the Chammakhi brothers. You will have to dare to ask them for permission to go up, because it is private, but reaching it is like taking an archaeological trip to the past by jumping from layer to layer, only in an upward direction. Carpets, fabrics, ceramics and furniture intermingle in a visual jumble with such horror vacui that it becomes impossible to distinguish any constructive element of the 15th-century house it occupies.
It shares borders with Algeria and Libya in the south of Tunisia, an immense desert region whose best known part is the Great Eastern Erg. Right at the gates of this unusual sea of Saharan dunes, before the parched surface of the Chott el Djerid salt lake cracks under our feet, rises like a mirage the Anantara Sahara Tozeur Resort & Villas. 'Make do' with sleeping in one of its ground-floor rooms –which unfold in the shape of a palm tree around the complex– involves greeting the sun from a divan strategically placed next to a large window or get rid of the emotions of the day under a rain effect shower, in addition to having a community pool surrounded by palm trees and vegetation in which to spread out.
However, its independent villas are the long-awaited treasure that we have come to the Sahara to look for. There are some with a private pool, ideal for the photo, however the true indelible memory will be the fullness of the moment : just you, immersed in your thoughts, diving into your feelings, facing nothing. The revealing effect of the desert in its purest form.
View of the minaret of the Youssef Dey mosque in the medina of Tunis from the roof of the antique dealer Ed-Dar.
Though we could stay whole days without leaving this sanctuary Tunisian that sophisticatedly fuses Moorish and Berber architecture, there are so many tempting experiences that the Anantara Tozeur team has prepared that you won't know which one to start with. Well yes, accommodated on a cushion, on a hand-woven rug, under a traditional Berber tent in the middle of the desert, while a chef will prepare a private dinner for you.
Dining by Design they call it; us: an impressive display of flavors and colors. As if it were an artist's palette, from a table full of traditional recipes, you should help yourself to what you most want to paint the blank canvas that is your plate: a warm Mechouia salad here, a little olives, peppers and humus over there. For your creation to become a work of art, all you have to do is finish it off with harissa , an addictive cream of hot peppers seasoned with spices and olive oil.
Private villa with pool, sunrise and Royal villa at the Anantara Tozeur.
With a satisfied stomach, It's time to go out and burn adrenaline . The expedition to the mountain oases of Chebika, Tamerza and Mides begins by crossing the Atlas. How much poise –and literature– this phrase contains! But yes, no matter how much you do it sitting in a high-end car and down a winding but uncomplicated road, you will be crossing one of the mountain ranges most famous in the world.
What awaits you on the other side of this rugged orange terrain is a wild landscape in which waterfalls and palm groves share the limelight with the ruins of the three ghost towns. You can waste time, like a clueless tourist, haggling over the price of a desert rose at a souvenir stall or better peek into the immensity of the Mides canyon, whose vertiginous path you will recognize in a scene from The English Patient.
Another movie set that you will be taken to visit –in their own way– from the Anantara Tozeur is Mos Espa, the Tatooine starport of The star wars that has been there since the 70s. They say that George Lucas systematically disassembles his sets, but apparently he would have decided to leave this one intact as a sign of gratitude to the Tunisian people, who were able to rebuild it in record time for the recording after having been destroyed by an inconvenient sandstorm.
Dunes of Onk El Djemal at sunset.
The final touch of the Star Wars adventure is as spatial as it is special: it consists of having tea and watching the sun go down on top of a dune in Onk El Djemal. Anyone who has enjoyed a sunset in the desert will tell you about the fiery sky, of reds, oranges and ochres, of the brilliance that precedes the darkness of the firmament. And it usually is, but don't be disappointed if the clouds don't let you see 'the forest', as the result in this case will be a crocheted dome interwoven by indescribable shades of pink, purple and violet.
We cannot say goodbye to our trip without paying a visit to Tozeur, the most important city in southern Tunisia. A tangle of labyrinthine alleys is its medina, as attractive from the outside –the geometry of its brick architecture is unique– as it is surprising from the inside. serve as an example Maison d'hotes Dar Tozeur, a guest house built as a riad that offers two swimming pools, a spa, indoor and outdoor lounges, as well as terraces overlooking the rooftops of the Ouled Hadef neighborhood. Nothing out of the ordinary so far , but what if we say that only has seven suites?
Scenery from 'Star Wars' and road that crosses the Atlas.
In the Tozeur palm grove alone there are more than 200 types of edible dates, and this gives us an idea of what the country tastes like, or not one of the main producers of the fruit of the date palm , fashionable as a superfood today but cultivated for over 6,000 years. So if you are going to lose your head over one, let it be over the deglet nour date ('finger of light'), the star variety of Tunisia, and not over the one that spoils after 24 hours, because it is already known that fleeting encounters, however intense and tasty they may be, end up knowing little.
This report was published in the number 150 of the Condé Nast Traveler Magazine (March-April 2022). Subscribe to the printed edition (€18.00, annual subscription, by calling 902 53 55 57 or from our website). The April issue of Condé Nast Traveler is available in its digital version to enjoy on your preferred device