PLACES TO GO

NAME: "Town of the Mahdi" (in Arabic).
LOCATION AND ACCESS: On the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, 200 km south of Tunis, 60 km south-east of Sousse. Railway station.
DIALING CODE: 03.
ACCOMMODATION: SeeHotels Interactive Guide.
AMENITIES: Post office, pharmacies, food store, numerous travel agents, banks.
RESTAURANTS: L'Espadon, Neptune, Le Lido, Le Quai. (see Restaurants Interactive Guide).

Tucked away like a precious jewel between Sousse and Sfax, this lovely port modestly conceals its prestigious and adventurous past. Proclaimed the capital of Tunisia in 921, Mahdia was long the center of a power struggle between the Caliph of Cairo and local sovereigns. Repeatedly attacked by nomads, Genoese navies, Sicilian troops, liberated by the Berbers, Mahdia became a headquarters for the pirates of Dargouth and battles with Spanish and Maltese knights.

The Central Mosque, austere and sober dates from the 10th century and the entrance to the Medina is through an enormous 16th century gate. Wandering through the old city visitors can see the vestiges of the ancient ramparts and fortress, visit the "Cape Africa" lighthouse and hauntingly beautiful sailors cemetery.

Mahdia of today is that of the fisherman mending his nets and the silk weavers in the Rue Sidi Jaber. A few kilometers from the town itself a myriad of modern first class hotels offer visitors one of the finest beaches in Tunisia.