Day 4: Matmata and the Island of Jerba

On the fourth day of our trip I woke up and went for a short walk around the area near the hotel. Matmata is known for its troglodyte dwellings, but I had no idea I would only have to walk 100 feet to find abandoned caves in the hillside. On our walk back to the hotel we also ran into more troglodyte homes that are still inhabited.


Soon we got on the road and headed to the Island of Jerba. In the Odyssey, Jerba is the island of the lotus eaters. It is supposed to be a lovely and quite tourist-filled island. However, we arrived on Jerba right after a rainstorm. The streets were flooded with muddy water and debris. Our first stop in Jerba was lunch in the main town of Houmt Souk. After lunch we rushed around and checked out the nearby shops. I was impressed with the shopping area in Houmt Souk but unfortunately many shops were closed because it was a Sunday.



Our next stop on Jerba was the El Ghriba Synagogue. Jerba is very unique in that it for the past 2000 or so years a Jewish community has lived on the island. The Jews and Muslims of Jerba live in peace and are very proud of that fact. The synagogue site is one of the oldest in the world-- the actual building was only built in the early 20th century. Despite the relative new-ness of the synagogue, the building was really gorgeous and we took many pictures. The synagogue was attacked by Al Quaeda in 2002, a gas truck ran into it and exploded, killing 15 German tourists, 1 Frenchman, and 5 or 6 Tunisians (I've found varying reports). I find it really unfortunate that outsiders would come in and attempt to destroy the peace of a community that prides itself on its history of cooperation. One last interesting fact about the synagogue: this is the first place in all of Tunisia that has required me to wear a headscarf in order to enter.



All of my pictures from my trip are now posted online.