Visit Kairouan in Tunisia

Join Shepherd entertainment on a trip to visit the city of Kairouan in Tunisia.

Visit Kairouan in Tunisia Kairouan is a holy city. The name originates from the word caravan. According to the legend, the conquering Arabian General Uqba ibn Nafi stopped his caravan here. The city is a popular destination for pilgrims and it’s said that one pilgrimage to Kairouan equals a pilgrimage to Mecca. There are not only pilgrims into today’s Kairouan which is still an important trade center but also tourists. There’s a majestic Islamic cemetery in the city which is worth seeing. There’s the well of Bir Barouta where a camel pulls up the water and there is also the thousand year old bath of Algabitas. The main pool has a diameter of 120 meters while the middle pillar suggests that there was a pavilion surrounding it in case the Emir wanted to cool down a bit. The carpet factories of the city are known in the whole country. The classic patterns resemble the ornaments of the great mosque. The cross of Kairouan motif is surrounded by a honeycomb like a flame. Most of the carpets available are Berber but there are also modern patterns which are based upon the assumed taste of European tourists. Whichever one chooses, one must not forget that the more knots there are in one square meter, the more valuable the carpet is. The hand crafted carpets contained from 10 to 30,000 knots. A carpet containing 250,000 knots is almost priceless. Similar to almost everything, the price is reached after considerable bargain. The buyer is expected to bargain. The price is usually around 60% of the first offer. Obviously, it’s easier to get a discount if you buy a larger amount. The carpets are folded into small packages, so it’s easily transportable by air as well.