Tunisia

 20/11/2025

Arrival at La Goulette, the Port of Tunis, was slightly delayed and once again, a large MSC ship was already berthed at the cruise terminal. This time is is the MSC Splendida with passenger capacity of 4.363. Lets hope we don't see too much of them on our shore excursions. 

To disembark here we need to get face to face clearance with immigration officials and a stamped pass before we can leave the ship. Our delay in berthing and then the delay in immigration officials being able to get on board resulted in all of the shore program being pushed back by around 45 mins. I can only imagine what is must have been like on the MSC Splendida with 5 times the number of passengers we have.

For todays excursion we chose to visit the remains of the ancient city of Carthage, once the most formidable naval power in the Mediterranean. The Romans eventually defeated the Phoenicians and destroyed Punic Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War in 146 BC.

On our way to our first site, our tour guide provided us with the usual local background facts and figures about Tunisia. One clear message was that the Tunisians do not see themselves as Africans or Arabs. Descended from the Phoenicians, they have a strong Southern Mediterranean and Southern European ancestry. Sicily is geographically very close to Tunisia and there are strong trade ties between the two, and quite a few Sicilians living in Tunisia. 

Tunisia is a Muslim country, but a very liberal one. When Tunisia gained Independence from France in 1956, the first President, Habib Bourguiba, introduced a raft of social reforms that were at odds with Islamic neighbours. He made polygamy illegal, women were given the right to file for divorce, women could vote, have an abortion without the consent of her husband, they were given access to higher education. 

Tunisians also appear to be half hearted about being strict Muslims and are enthusiastic beer and wine drinkers. Our guide joked that during Covid, all industry stopped because of lockdowns with the exception of breweries which were enjoying record trade.

Our first stop is the Tophet of Carthage, a cemetery and necropolis for infants . The Phoenicians were pagans and sacrifices to the Gods was part of their culture. There is some debate about whether they indulged in live child sacrifices with some claiming that children sacrificed were those that were stillborn.

There was a field of tombstones of  children who had been sacrificed

Not all of the tomb stones on display came from this site.

Excavation still under way at this site

The symbol of the God Tanit, the Chief Diety of Carthage

Our Guide explaining that the symbol on this stone is thought to be that of a woman carrying a stillborn baby, supporting the proposition that sacrificed children were stillborn

There was shared tomb on the same site that we could walk into, but there was little to see inside other than some more tomb stones.

Exiting the tomb from another entrance

We are very close to the Punic ports of Carthage and decide it is easier to walk to the ports rather than use the bus for such a short distance. There is little remaining of the port structures but the diagram below sheds light on what it was like.

The port area can be seen on this map of Carthage in the foreground, made up of a rectangular shaped commercial port with another circular port behind it. The circular port was where the Phoenician warships were kept and up to 200 warships were there at any time. The central island in this port was where all of the maintenance and support facilities were located. It could be isolated from the commercial port by raising a heavy chain across the entrance.

The circular port today, with the island bare of any significant structures

After the destruction of Carthage by the Romans, it was some time before it was refounded by Julius Caesar as new Roman colony in 29 BC. By 3 AD Carthage had become one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire with a population of several hundred thousand.

The next part of our tour took us to the most important part of any Roman City, the Baths. Located on the ocean shore the baths in Carthage were among the largest in the Empire, with the frigidarium alone, being 1000 m2 in size.. There are still substantial remains there and the diagrams below show the detail of the original design.

An elevation drawing of the Baths Complex

Floor Plan ( The frigidarium is the rectangular pool in the centre of the baths)

Baths remains (the column was one of the eight columns that supported the roof over the frigidarium)

We were given some free time to wander around inside the ruins and get a feel for the sheer size of this complex.

To supply clean fresh water for the baths, the Romans build a viaduct 132 km long, the logest viaduct in the Roman Empire. It fed a series of storage cisterns on a hill above the bath complex.

Remains of part of the viaduct

Remains of the storage cisterns

The second part of our tour is to visit the village of Sidi Bou Said, a picturesque hilltop town where all of the buildings are painted blue and white. 

It is a bit of a tourist trap as we battle our way past numerous stalls with eager vendors pushing their goods, on our way through to a short walking tour through the narrow cobble stones streets of the residential area.

We have to get past this collection of stalls to get to the village proper

The village is scenic and the streets very narrow. This does not stop the locals somehow getting their cars through here to their homes and parking in the street.

Some of the doors are large enough to allow a horse and rider through. The upper door knockers mean you don't need to dismount to knock on the door

Windows are designed for privacy allowing a view out from inside, but outsiders cannot look in

Doors and windows are elaborately decorated

On this door you can see the hand of Fatima, it protects the residents from the evil eye and negative energy

 

Once back down in the village our guide has to take us to his preferred shop for purchasing Tunisian handicrafts. We get the usual spiel about how this shop sells only genuine local handicrafts (not Chinese copies), they take credit cards, you can bargain etc. All of the normal touristy crap, and I am sure our guide will get a handsome commission. We leave the American bargain hunters and head down the road to get a cup of coffee at a respectable looking cafe.

Coffee here is not like home, but drinkable. The highlight was the small plate of Tunisian sweets we ordered  to go with it on the recommendation of a fellow cruiser who had just had some. They were very good.

We met back outside the handicraft show where a few last minute bargains were still being negotiated, before walking back to the bus.

Our meeting point

Back on the bus, the streets are busy with traffic and an increasing number of cruise ship tourists and local constabulary are very visible in case some trouble breaks out. By the look of there vehicle they must has some exciting moments from time to time.

Back at the cruise terminal we have to go through the port "village" to get back on the ship. It is a bit like trying to get to your boarding gate at the airport however the shop keepers here are much more focused on getting a sale.

Entrance to the Port Village to re board our ship

Tunisia is certainly an interesting place, but it could really do with a good clean up. The amount of rubbish and litter in the streets is quite excessive and doesn't seem to be of concern.

Departure from La Goulette is at around 6.30pm headed for Algeria. Tomorrow is an at sea day and conditions look like they might be a bit less favourable with strong winds and possible rain forecast.