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2014年3月7日 星期五

Tunisian Tour 13.2 Cap Bon. Kelibia. Kekouane. Nabeul (突尼西亞之旅13 . 好角. 加利比亞. 蓋赫庫阿勒. 那布爾)

 Cont'd 

There was a slight change of tour itinerary the day we went to Sousse, such that instead of going there first, we we were taken to first to Kelibia, and then to Kerkouane and only then to Sousse. It didn't matter much but I have never been to any of those places. Kelibia used to be a fortified sea port with a fortress on the hill guarding the harbor . However, we weren't given any time to go up there.


This is the famous fortress overlooking the Kelibia harbor. It had just been renovated. But we did not have time to visit it.



Another view of the great fortress


A view of the harbor.


The space close to the quayside seems to have been turned into some free public space for the maintenance and repairs of small crafts


How deep is the keel of this apparently short boat!


The boats being repaired are painted in such gay colors 


Another boat due for a new coat of paint


This seems to be painted the same way. Done by the same company?


 So clever of them to just use poles of different length to prop the boat up for work


A similar boat is already in the water


An old sailor waiting for work


 a boat full of folded up nets


 I wonder what that big blue barrel on the blue boat is supposed to be used for.


pulled in and folded nets are just lumped together indifferently close to the shore


Quite a number of speed boats are moored there


Some gears for lifting the boats out from the water at the end of the quayside


Closer view of the winches 
 

The place is lined with boats


None of the mooring spaces appear to have been wasted


 The low clouds look really far away


Trawlers each with a crane at the back and their nets and tackles are moored to the side of the pier in close succession.


It appears to be a really busy harbor


The sea is so blue. It was such a beautiful day. But we didn't have any time for a water tour or go up there to look at the harbor from the fortress. Nor were we given a chance to try its famous white wine.


This is the site we next visited. It closes at 4 p.m. So we got to be there earlier


The space before the ticketing office. According to the information here, this site is at the extremity of Cap Bon northest of Tunis between Kelibia and Aspis where the Roman built into the Clipea and the Promontorium Mercurrii( present day the Ras Ed Drek). Nobody knows exactly why this place is thus called. Some suggested that it was called Tamerzrat, which means simply" the remains of ruins". During the Punic Wars, this Carthaginian city suffered two major destruction by the Romans, the first time in 310 BCE and the second in 266-265 BCE. The oldest part of this ruin dates back to 6th century BCE and its present conditions resembled those existing in 3rd century BCE. It's an excellent example of how the Carthaginians built their city: tt follows a grid system with the streets intersecting with each other at right angles, with spaces for public square. It is estimated that about 2000 people lived here with each house accomodating 6-7 persons including servants. This place was once a thriving den of activities by fishermen, potters, sculptors, metal smiths, stone cutters, masons, weavers and dyers. 


Some of the artifacts recovered here: terra cotta dog and pot


This is the plan of the former city


We entered the site through this garden path



The end of the path


Some of the flowers in the garden



Other flowers



More flowers


This is the road with two plazas


This house on the artisans' street used to be a house with a central courtyard and two benches flanking an altar for domestic worship. The hole is presumably a sewer entry point.


There are many stone bath tubs in the houses here. This is one of them


This is presumably a cistern for holding drinking water


The remains of some of the houses


 This is the plan of the house with a central courtyard


This is the sewer


One can see that the houses are built one next to the other


This is presumably a public bath


The embankment to the settlement


A house close by the sea


The path leading to the row of houses by the sea


Same path looking in the opposite direction

  
Further down the same path


The houses at the end of the path


A bath tub with mosaic floor


A bathtub and a sump


A public building


The sea wall

The steps leading down to the sea


Waves coming in from the sea


a view of the houses a little further from the coast

This is presumably a fountain


looking out from towards the sea


The perpendicular road


An opening for emptying dirty water


 a bathtub


The bathturb and the sump


Another bathtub


 A similar bath tub


a very deep sump?


Underground drain


A basin? 


a bathtub for a small baby?

Some of the houses by the sea


 This is believed to be the place where tables are placed for goods on sale?


 A peculiar plant with ring-shape tendrils I found at the site

 

The coastal path back to the town square


 shrubs by the sea


Tree slanted by the constant sea winds


The space on the left of the photo is presumably the public square


We're on our way again after the visit. We'd be going to Nabeul.


The land is much greener here


they're growing something other than palm dates


 A  vegetable patch

  
Land is not a problem in Tunisia at all. You can have as much land as you want at very reasonable prices. This is a car washing service station.


A new housing estate


Tunisian appear to love curves


A rarely seen geometrical minimalist structure


A beautiful blue and white minaret


A monument to the orange in the middle of the main road of the town



Only in Nabeul, would you find such a big potted tree! Nabeul is a small town founded by the Phoenicians in the 5th century BCE famous for its pottery.


Many of its houses here too use locally made wall tiles to give themselves a distinctive look.


The entrance to the old town.


We were taken to one of the local pottery shops 


                                                         colorful lamp shade for walls


All kinds of vases, pots, bowls, dishes 


and wall tiles 

Greek pitchers

Arabic perforated pots 


dishes with intricate floral motifs


 in blue, red, yellow, green 


Decorative wall tiles 


lamp shades


Small dishes


huge pot


Flower pots


jugs


Flower pots 

cups and saucers and even fruit basket


Cooking pots 


And the  palm of protection


 A master shows us how he makes the mould for firing


 A dish


a pot


He adds an ear

he uses a small scraping and shaping board on a turning mill


makes some quick cuts and smooths the surface with his fingers and the small board


Two of items he made right in front of our eyes



Another master is checking his production


 A third master is doing his bowls 


a fourth is painting the: how concentrated he looks!


Their crafts is not confined to household pottery, building pottery too.  


 Everything is lumped together


Everything is done here: design, manufacture, storage and sale: a one stop shop! 


A very Tunisian design


Shop specializing on producing decorative items for gardens

 Some of the shops here profit from the beautiful wall tiles  they make here on their external walls


They also produce big decorative plates here too 


The shop opposite to where we would be picked by our coach with its elaborate shop front design


There are many hawkers in Tunisia


They sell all kinds of stuffs: cheap jewellery, smoking pipes etc 


 A news stand and fast food shop: should they be mutually exclusive?


The men like to sit around talking to their friends on the pavement, whiling away their time watching passing traffic. They do not seem particularly concerned with working a tight schedule. Should we work to live or should we live to work?


Whether it's one or the other, the sight of these roast chicken reminds me that it's dinner time.

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