Overview

Industrial Sfax is often overlooked, but travelers often describe its walled city as one of the most authentic medina in Tunisia. The 1200-year-old medina is the smallest in Tunisia, steeped in history and heritage to intrigue any traveler who loves art, markets, and architecture with lots of local color and atmosphere. The medina has been mostly untouched by tourism. It continues to play an important role in the daily life of locals, as it has for centuries.

If you’re the type of traveler who loves to experience the authentic life and enjoys towns that are a bit “off the beaten track”, then Sfax medina is the place for you!

Things to See and Do

Wander the fascinating Sfax Medina: Bab Diwan Gate. This is the perfect place to start your walking tour. The Unesco-listed medina dates from the 9th century AD. Its main southern gate, the triple-arched Bab Diwan, is where most people enter. This gate and the walls and ramparts were added in the early 14th century. Wander the narrow lanes crowded with local shoppers stocking up on household goods and other items on offer. The markets are noisy, colorful and aromatic on the northern edge where locals come to buy fresh produce.

As you explore, you'll see the Dar Jellouli Museum situated in a quiet, residential area off one of the main streets that runs through the Sfax medina. This courtyard is home to a museum that highlights the history and culture of life in the medina. Walking through the houses's rooms and seeing the displays offers a great sense of what life was like for the locals of Sfax for centuries.

Be sure to visit one of Medina's spice shops. The spice trade was once one of the most important and profitable in the world. Spice sellers played an important role in the medina to provide flavor for food and ingredients for traditional medicine, and they still do to this day.

Explore the Sfax Fish Market to see the variety of fish and other seafood the market has on offer. The fish market is among the most popular for Sfaxians to shop.

The Souq des Etoffes is a colorful covered market where sellers display a variety of traditional clothing and rugs. This is a great place to buy traditional clothes or rugs because the sellers typically offer reasonable prices.

Take a ride to Kerkenna on the ferry, with 8 trips. In Kerkenna, you can get a taxi to the Hotel Cercina where you can walk the beach, or enjoy a drink on the patio overlooking the bay. From the Grand Hotel you can also walk the beach. The Roman ruins beside the Bourj are opened t the public as well.

Cuisine

The gastronomy of Sfax is built on seafood. You can try stuffed squid, couscous with cuttlefish or fish cooked "Sfaxian styel" (in a sauce). A typical dish of Sfax is fish accompanied by charmoula - an onion marmalade perfumed with raisins and cinnamon, simmered for several hours. Taste the sweet and fruity olive oil, The Sfax region produces 40% of the olive oil in Tunisia. If your not keen on seafood, there is also chicken and lamb often seen throughout the region.

Like the rest of Tunisia, the cuisine is heavily based on olive oil, spices, tomatoes, seafood and met. yet, it has a distinctive spiciness that differs it from surrounding cuisines.