TABARKA : COASTAL TOWN

Tabarka

Tabarka is a coastal town located in north-western Tunisia close to the border with Algeria. Each year in July the town of Tabarka hosts the festival of Jazz. The event draws immense crowds who come to see a range of genres including seasoned jazz, reggae, electro, ethno-jazz, latino, funk and rock musicians. Ras Rajel Commonwealth War Cemetery is approximately 12 kilometres east of the town on Route GP7 to Tunis (and Beja).

Funny thing perception I left Bizerte feeling that Tabarka would be miles away (much like Tunis citizens feel about Bizerte) but found it to be a 2 hour but very enjoyable trip I visited Tabarka from Bizerte and it is likely that you will come either from there or Tunis so please hold this in mind if you want to see some of the things that I took photos of.

Literally as soon as you leave Bizerte (which is also a lovely place) it immediately becomes obvious how sparsely populated the countryside is and frankly how beautiful the North of Tunisia is as a place. The town fades out and you are met with miles of beautiful rolling hills and with the lake Itchkeul you have scenes that would not look out of place in any epic.

As for the road itself it is quite windy but of good quality with only the odd hole but the main cincern should be that it is not the widest and given that this is a very agricultural area you keep an eye out for the odd cow or old lady walking across or infact an old lady with a 400kg cow which is my personal favourite, please slowdown as they cannot stop!

When you arrive in Tabarka you can see the change in the buildings, the area has its own style which is that of reddish tiles on the roves of the houses. What is most pleasing for the NIMBY in me is that almost all of the buildings keep to this style which makes it that much more attractive.

Just before entering the town proper you come to the Ras Rejel graveyard which thankfully is in good order and makes me feel proud and sad as many of the men buried there are a lot younger than me. After leaving the cemetery you have a simple job of driving the short distance into Tabarka itself.

If your like me and staying in the zone touristique this is easy enough to find is actually like an extension to the main town to the east running along the beach. This is new and has many modern hotels and a golf course.

The Town centre

After having a little rest in the hotel we decided to head into town for some photos and walkabout and what immediately strikes you is how compact, spacious and nice Tabarka is. Driving out of the Zone Tourisque you find yourself bearing right and you are in front of the marina with plenty of parking spaces with the town centre to your left and the beach to your right navigation is simplicity itself.

Opposite the pretty tourism office is a area for sports in front of the beach which seemed popular and well maintained which was nice as much of the time you do not see such good community facilities in Tunisia for kids.

Walking through this area you then come to the beach which is excellent and sweeps from the Fort passed the marina and all the way around to the zone touristique and is both wide and clean which is always good.

After taking some photos we decided to have some lunch in the marina in the Touta restaurant. The marina itself looks quite recent and is small and intimate and notable for the captains building and the driving building which looked like giant packets of refreshers with banded paint. Again the walkways around this area where large and clean making walking safe and a pleasure. The port is situated between island with the fort and the mainland.

The port is in the process of being redeveloped with a new shopping are being added to the back of the marina which promises to bring more apartments and facilities to the marina which already had a good selection of restaurants and places to grab a coffee.

Coming out the other side of the Marina and you see why people like Tabarka, with he fort to your right and the hills curving around on your left it is a lovely place. Even the houses look well spaced out and consistent, which definitely gives it a more European feel.

 

Another bonus is the well-maintained and wide walkway that leads around the side of the hills and leads you toward another attraction in Tabarka which is the “needles” of Tabarka. The needles themselves are a dramatic result of sea erosion and the walkway passes through them so that you can feel the size of them.

 

After you have admired the needles you can continue your walk right around he bay to the “ampetheatre of the sea” which is a new construction which enjoys an fabulous position in the bottom of the hill in front of the houses and overlooking the bay and fort. When this is finished it is sure to provide both a useful venue and also a fantastic backdrop for the performances, which I hope to catch when I come to the Jazz festival, which is internationally renowned.

You can if you like walk to the top of the hill which is dotted with existing and newly constructed houses, I decided to hed back at this point but I came back in the car (too lazy) and took some photos from the top of the road which winds up the side of the hill.

The Town

After our exertions walking around the bay we decided to head into town for a cup of tea in the welcoming and unusually quiet streets. Tabarka’s French feeling continues in the town proper with a nice selection of colonial buildings many of which are still in good condition. The roads seemed a lot wider than many places in Tunisia and the relaxed atmosphere was obvious, people do not die of stress in Tabarka that is for sure!

In there centre there is also some tidy gardens with pride of place given to a statue of Habib Bourguiba as he was exiled here by the French in the early 1950’s which so far to me doesn’t seem so bad.

The Tourist Route and the Fort

If you are either energetic or have a car for you trip you can drive down the tourist route which goes round the back of the town and then snakes its way though the residential area and up the hill which overlooks the fort, ampertheatre and the bay this is worth it if you can do it as the view is fantastic. Also if you can walk/take the car up the road which is next to the marina and follow it up to the top of the hill on which the fort stands it is a bit twisty and you have to keep an eye out for the drivers coming down but once you are there you get to see the fort closely.

Tabarka castle or Genoese Fort is a interesting place basically a Genoese family built the fort to keep a garrison to protect the harvesting of coral in the region. This was a valuable trade and what made their situation rare was that at the time Tunisia was a part abeit autonomous of the Ottoman Turkish Empire and the Genoese family where Christian, so what you have here is a situation where a foreign Christian force is allowed in a Muslim country a strange situation indeed. Given the nature of this arrangement some at the time speculated that the Lomellini family leveraged influence on the Genoese to gain the rights as a contra payment for the ransom of a Turkish Admiral held prisoner.

The Castle itself is lovely and in good condition benefitting from its excellent position. Unfortunately there was some renovation work being undertaken at the castle when I was there and I was only able to go up to the front entrance. When Tore came here he was able to go into part of the castle but said that the majority is a government facility. However even without going into the building the views from the top of the mound are 

worth the effort as you can see everything.

Summary

Tabarka is lovely and offers you a very relaxed and enjoyable environment, which is perfect for the young family and or couples who enjoy a romantic walk. You may be hard pressed to find nighclubs but for relaxation nice food and healthy atmosphere you will have a hard time beating Tabarka.

Further Information

http://www.tabarkajazz.com

Article was taken from : http://www.tunisia.com/tunisia-articles