Tozeur: Palm Culture, Old Town and Chott El Jerid

Tozeur brings together urban culture, palm trees and the vast landscape of Chott El Jerid. In the old town’s narrow streets and at the Dar Chraïet Museum, history and art take centre stage; in the wider Jerid region, date traditions and palm crafts shape the landscape.

Old Town, Architecture and Caravan Routes

The old town districts of Tozeur and Nefta are characterised by narrow streets and cul-de-sacs between tall walls of pale bricks. Long, vaulted passageways open onto small squares, where the façades are decorated with reliefs. The architecture of the Jerid also uses small bricks made from a mixture of clay and sand. Their colour gives the towns an ochre desert hue. The regional building style can therefore be recognised both in the narrow streets and in the overall appearance of the towns.

Tozeur and Nefta were important stops on major caravan routes and were prosperous for a long time. The region around Tozeur and Nefta is called the Jerid; the name means “land of palms.” The history of the caravans adds to the architectural picture by highlighting the historic importance of both places.

Date Traditions and Palm Crafts

Tozeur is considered the capital of dates. Two notable varieties have different characteristics: Allig is red and sweet, while Deglet Nour is meltingly soft and translucent. They can therefore be distinguished by different characteristics: Allig by its colour and sweetness, and Deglet Nour by its texture and appearance. The region’s range of date products includes fresh dates as well as jam, pastries and syrup.

Craftspeople also use different parts of the palm. Palm leaves are woven into baskets, while palm wood is made into chests. In this way, the palm features throughout the wider Jerid region in both local products and handcrafted objects.

Museum and Theme Park

The private Dar Chraïet Museum is in Tozeur, a few hundred metres from the town’s palm grove. Its collection includes jewellery and traditional ceramics; a gallery of contemporary paintings honours the poet Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi. Costumes and valuable objects are also on display. Its thematic focus thus ranges from artefacts and ceramics to painting and the tribute to a poet.

The Chak Wak theme park in Tozeur combines dinosaurs with the history of religions. Dar Chraïet focuses on collections and art, while Chak Wak brings together dinosaurs and religious history.

Chott El Jerid and Its Landscape

Chott El Jerid is an extensive salt depression between the Cherb mountain range to the north and the desert to the south. It covers 586,187 hectares. The wetland is considered difficult to access and is crossed by a single road, about 80 kilometres long. It connects Tozeur in the northwest with the Kebili region (“Nefiaoua”) in the southeast.

The landscape is home to wildlife and plant life typical of pre-Saharan areas. Dghoumes National Park lies on the northern edge; it is part of a Ramsar site and is home to steppe flora and fauna. The vast salt depression and the park’s steppe thus represent different aspects of the region’s natural landscape.

Landscapes Nearby

Chebika is located near the destination, where a wadi flows down a steep mountainside, forming waterfalls and streams inhabited by frogs. The old village of Tamerza is abandoned; its lush oasis is fed by a tall waterfall. The landscapes are distinct: Chebika is shaped by the course of the wadi, while Tamerza is defined by the interplay of its abandoned village, oasis and waterfall.

Discover more destinations: Tozeur, Dguache, Beja, Tunis, Ariana, Sidi Bouzid, Hammamet, Ben Arous.

For the broader travel overview: Tunisia.