Sousse

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Sousse
Sousse is located in Tunisia
Sousse
Location in Tunisia
Coordinates: 35°50′N 10°38′E / 35.833°N 10.633°E / 35.833; 10.633
Country Flag of Tunisia.svg Tunisia
Governorate Sousse Governorate
Population (2004)
 - Total 173,047
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)

Sousse (Arabic سوسة Sousa) is a city in Tunisia. Located 140 km south of the capital Tunis, the city has 173,047 inhabitants (2004). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. The name may be of Berber origin: similar names are found in Libya and in the south of Morocco (Bilād al-Sūs). The city is the capital of Sousse Governorate with 540,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate). Its economy is based on transport equipment, processed food, olive oil, textiles and tourism. It is home to the Université de Sousse (or Université de Monastir).

Contents

[edit] History

In the 11th century B.C., the Phoenicians founded Hadrumetum. The city allied itself with Rome during the Punic Wars, thereby escaping damage or ruin and entered a relatively peaceful 700-year period under the Pax Romana. Livy tells us that Hadrumentum was the landing place of the Roman army under Scipio Africanus in the second Punic War. After the fall of Rome, the Vandals, and later the Byzantines, took over the town, renaming it, respectively, Hunerikopolis and Justinianopolis.

In the 7th century A.D. Arab-Islamic armies conquered what is now Tunisia and rapidly spread Arab culture across what had been a thoroughly Romanized and Christianized landscape. The Arabs seized the city, which in the aftermath of Rome's fall was but a remnant of its former self. They renamed the city Sûsa and within a few decades elevated it to the status of the main seaport of the Aghlabid Dynasty. When the Aghlabids invaded Sicily in 827, Sûsa was their main staging ground.

In the centuries that followed, as Europe gained technological ascendancy and began pushing back at Islam, Sûsa was briefly occupied by the Normans in the 12th century, was later more thoroughly occupied by the Spanish, and in the 18th century was the target of bombardments by the Venetians and the French. The French renamed the city Sousse (actually the city is still called "Sûsa" in Arabic, so no-one renamed it since the Arabs conquered this area: the French just adapted its name for their own language, and the British borrowed it from the French).

Despite the turmoil around it, Sousse's character had retained the solidly Arabian look and feel it had assumed in the centuries after Islam's wars of conquest. Today it is considered one of the best examples of seaward-facing fortifications built by the Arabs. Its ribat, a soaring structure that combined the purposes of a minaret and a watch tower, is in outstanding condition and draws visitors from around the world.

These days, Sousse, with a population of more than 540,000, retains a medieval heart of narrow, twisted streets, a kasbah and medina, its ribat fortress and long wall on the Mediterranean. Surrounding it is a modern city of long, straight roads and more widely spaced buildings.

[edit] Historical names

[edit] In films

Sousse's old city has apects that made it ideal as a film location. Most famous is the first Indiana Jones movie (1981), where Sousse represents Cairo. It is noteworthy that the styles of Sousse, white-washed houses with blue details, bear no resemblance to the actual architecture of Cairo.

[edit] City assets

Sousse panorama
The Ribat of Sousse

Third city of the country after Tunis and Sfax, Sousse owes its status as the undoubted capital of the region to these assets :

  • An olive grove stretching over more than 2,500 square kilometres, constituting one of its main riches since Antiquity
  • A busy port, open to the town centre and giving a touch of gaiety to its activity
  • A medina of great historical interest, surrounded by its fortifications, which continues to live at its own rhythm, harmoniously contrasting with the modern city of typically Mediterranean charm
  • A seaside resort stretching to the north, making up together with the integrated complex of Port El Kantaoui one of the most complete and most diversified tourist zones of the Mediterranean, at only 20 km from the international airport of Monastir. As a sea town, Sousse benefits from a moderate and mild climate promoting all the pleasures which a tourist could desire and making it an all-season resort

[edit] Tourism

Sousse beachfront
Medina of Sousse*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Grand Mosque of Sousse, Tunisia, as seen from the tower of the Ribat
State Party  Tunisia
Type Cultural
Criteria iii, iv, v
Reference 498
Region** Arab States
Inscription history
Inscription 1988  (12th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Sousse is home to many resorts and fine sandy beaches backed by orchards and olive groves. It has a pleasant Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and warm, mild wet winters. It also has a skilled population, and serves as a strategic geographic location.

Although Sousse is associated with olive oil making, this is far from being the only industry in the city. Tourism has become a central activity, with some 1,200,000 visitors every year coming to enjoy its many fine hotels and restaurants, trendy nightclubs, casinos, beaches, sports facilities, museums, and the Medina (the old city).

120 hotels with a capacity of 40,000 beds extend over a 20 km strip from the north of town down south to a traditional downtown area and bazaar, where wares are directed mainly at tourists.

[edit] Statistics

  • Population: 220,000 inhabitants (2003 estimate)
  • Altitude: 2 m
  • Humidity: 69%
  • Number of hospitals: (private and public) 15
  • Average Temperatures: (mean temperatures from May to August for the last 30 years)
    • Min: 19.7 °C
    • Max: 29.1 °C
    • Average: 24.4 °C
  • Rainfall average: May: 19.3 mm
    • June: 4 mm
    • July: 1.7 mm
    • August: 10.3 mm

[edit] Sights

Sussa3.jpg
Sousse town centre

UNESCO declared the medina of Sousse a World Heritage Site in 1988, citing among other things its preservation from modern development.

[edit] Sister cities

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Serpukhov Region". http://serpukhov.regio.ru/. Retrieved 2009-04-15. 

[edit] External links

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World Heritage Sites in Tunisia

Amphitheatre of El Jem · Dougga/Thugga · Ichkeul National Park · Kairouan · Medina of Sousse · Medina of Tunis · Punic Town of Kerkuane and its Necropolis · Site of Carthage

 Tunisia

Coordinates: 35°50′N 10°38′E / 35.833°N 10.633°E / 35.833; 10.633

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