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Mausoleum of Sidi Sahab, the Prophet's companion.
Sunday, October 17th.
We left the hotel at 8 and headed east and then south. We drove through Tunisia’s valleys that have earned the country its traditional epithet: "Tunisia the Green." Here, ancient agricultural patterns persist, olive groves, wheat fields, and vineyards that have fed civilizations for millennia. Stork nests perch atop telephone poles and minaret towers, their massive nests testament to the connection between human settlement and nature, as having a nest on your property is considered good luck. In the city of Monastir we learned about a unique Islamic institution: the ‘ribat’, a fortified monastery where soldier-monks combined religious devotion with frontier defense. Built in the 8th century when Muslim expansion faced Byzantine (Christian) counterattacks, the Ribat of Monastir exemplifies how early Islamic civilization created institutions unknown in Christian Europe. The towering walls provided excellent views of the coastline where medieval fleets once launched expeditions across the Mediterranean. Modern cinema has discovered Monastir's dramatic appeal—this ribat provided locations for Monty Python's "Life of Brian" and Zeffirelli’s "Jesus of Nazareth." We had lunch outside the walls at a restaurant and then continued south to Kairouan, our ultimate destination. It holds unparalleled significance in Islamic history. Founded in 670 CE by the Arab general Uqba ibn Nafi, it became the first Islamic city established in North Africa and the fourth holiest city in Islam after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. Seven pilgrimages to Kairouan equal one to Mecca, a medieval ruling that established this oasis as North Africa's spiritual heart. We stopped briefly to see the Aghlabid Basins which showed how 9th-century engineers solved desert hydrology by copying Roman techniques. These enormous reservoirs, fed by aqueducts reaching 36 kilometres into the surrounding hills, supported a city whose influence extended from Spain to Egypt. The Great Mosque of Kairouan contains a forest of columns - hundreds of marble shafts looted from Roman sites across North Africa and repurposed to support Islam's expanding architectural needs. Each capital (the top of the column) differs from its neighbours, creating a museum of classical design within a revolutionary religious context. The mosque's 8th-century minaret, among Islam's oldest, established architectural forms still followed across the Islamic world. We were allowed in the courtyard, but as non-muslims were not allowed to enter the prayer room but could peer inside from a barrier and take photos of the interior. Again at the Mausoleum of Sidi Sahab, (the legendary companion of the Prophet Muhammad), we were not allowed in but for a small payment the guard (whose family has held this position for generations) took our cameras and took a few photos for us. Here we witness how popular Islam transformed austere early mosques into centres of devotional art and architectural splendour. We got to the hotel about 5 and for the first time there was a swimming pool, so I donned my suit and went for a cool refreshing swim before dinner. After dinner at the hotel, Brett and I went for a walk through the Medina. We had heard that it was chaotic and dirty, but when we went after dark the shops were shut, the people gone and the streets swept pretty clean. We went for a nice walk talking and checking out the site. Then back to the room for the night.
