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Medina

The medina is by far the most popular part of the city for tourists, and with good reason. The Arabic old town, featuring sinuous alleyways with blank walls, beautiful vaulted alleys and famous monumental doors hiding palaces, is the historical core of Tunis. It is a true architectural wonder and became a UNESCO Humanity World Heritage site in 1979. Restoration is constantly in progress on many buildings in order to preserve the rich cultural heritage of the city. The medina mainly encompasses animated Souks selling spice blends, incense, perfume extract, and tanned leather, where the finest handicrafts share space with "Made in China" baubles. Throughout the passing of the centuries, the Souks remained as dynamic as ever, as can be seen for example in the Souk El Attarine, the Souk El Berka, the Souk El Koumach (Souk des Etoffes), the Souk El Trouk or the Souk Ech-Chaouachiya. In this bewitching universe weighed down by small shops, the merchants and the customers haggle hard for Tunisian green and yellow pottery or a new pair of shoes.