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Gafsa (قفصة)
Oued Beyèche, at the northern entrance to the city. In the background, the high building is the administrative headquarters of the Compagnie des phosphates de Gafsa (CPG).
Information
Country	Tunisia
Region	Tunisian Sahara
Watercourse	Oued Beyeche
Area	45 km²
Population	100 000 hab.
Postal code	2100
Location
34 ° 25 ′ 0 ″ N 8 ° 47 ′ 0 ″ E
Official site
edit

Gafsa is a city of Tunisian Sahara located in the Center-West of Tunisia close to the border Algerian. It is part of the Gafsa Governorate (in Arabic: ولاية قفصة) which is one of the 24 governorates of Tunisia.

Understand

At the gates of Sahara, Gafsa, city of 100,000 inhabitants, is an almost obligatory stopover before diving into the desert.

Its history is very old since traces of prehistoric settlements dated from 8,500 BC. AD to 5,400 BC. AD were discovered there and bear witness to the Capesian civilization. This adjective comes from Capsa, name of Gafsa when it was founded in II^e century BC under the reign of Jugurtha. This Numidian king considered the city to be his treasure. If the Romans destroyed it in 107 BC, they rebuilt it and made it a municipality. At V^e century, it became the capital of the Berber Kingdom until the arrival of the Byzantines in the year 553. It was conquered in 667 by the Muslims. Despite successive dominations, the Gafsians are still rebellious and demonstrate independence.

Nowadays, the region of Gafsa is quite poor economically. The phosphate ore mined in Metlaoui and the surrounding area is mainly transferred to other governorates. Agriculture provides part of the local economy.

To go

By plane

• Gafsa-Ksar International Airport (مطار قفصة قصر الدولي) serves the city of Gafsa. But there are no more thefts.

• Tozeur-Nefta International Airport (مطار توزر نفطة الدولي) is located 1 h 30 by Gafsa.

By train

The Tunis-Tozeur line goes through Sfax and Gafsa.

Gafsa also directly serves Sfax and Sousse.

By bus

The coaches serve the major cities of the Tunisia. They are old, noisy, slow, uncomfortable and crowded but cheap.

In rental

Louages ​​(8-seater taxis) connect Gafsa to the big cities of Tunisia: Tunis, Sfax, Sousse, Kasserine, Gabes, Djerba and Tozeur. The rental station is located at the eastern entrance to the city.

By car

Circulate

Blue lines connect Gafsa to other towns in the governorate.

Taxis serve the whole city. At the meter, they take you wherever you want. Otherwise, they also circulate on a determined route and we buy a place for 600 millimes. They are located in two different stations: one serves El Ksar and Lalla and the other Sidi Ahmed Zarroug.

To see

• The Roman baths and the Roman swimming pool ''. The latter is made up of two basins surrounded by freestone walls, the only remains of the ancient Roman Capsa. The water is very clear there. Children dive into it.
• The borj. Erected in 1434, then restored, the kasba retains only its walls, the borj.
• The museum. Near the Roman pools, the Gafsa Museum has interesting collections. Tools, weapons, decorated ostrich bones, flint, carved stones and other objects recall the prehistoric occupation. Among the most beautiful mosaics in the museum is the Show of athletic games and pugilates dating from the IV^e century, a mosaic with an area of 43 m² discovered at the end of the XIX^e century to 60 km east of Gafsa. It features athletes in their simplest device engaging in different sporting competitions such as wrestling, boxing, running, discus throwing and jumping.
• Dar Longo.
• The highland oasis.
• Old mosque.
• Mida Hill.

Do

• Golf  (last update Feb. 2018)

To learn

To work

To buy

The very important market is held on Wednesdays in the center of Gafsa. Another takes place at Ksar on Sunday and Monday. Finally, since the beginning of 2013, a market has set up again in Lalla on Thursday and Friday.

In the center of Gafsa, there are many retail or semi-wholesale businesses, as well as two supermarkets:

• General store.
• Carrefour market : Avenue Taieb Mhiri. Open from 8 h 30 - 20 h, 7 Days / 7.

Both sell food products, hardware, hygiene products and household appliances. The second also delivers fresh fruits and vegetables, unlike the first.

Finally, businesses and artisans abound in the neighboring municipalities: grocery stores, hardware stores, etc.

Eat

The typical dishes of the region are:

• the Morchene couscous prepared with young turnips (bulbs and leaves)
• the bethboutha, couscous prepared with a wild plant, gtaf (ڨطف, sea bass, Atriplex halimus)
• the metabga
• the barkoukech

Have a drink / Go out

• Dar Cherif (next to the great Sidi Ben Yaagoub mosque). A café has been set up in a traditional house.

Housing

5 star hotels

• Jugurtha Palace Sidi Ahmed Zarroug B.P. 10 Gafsa 2100,   216 76 211 201, fax : 216 76 211 220, e-mail : [email protected] – Despite the dilapidation of certain exterior elements, this very beautiful hotel located south of Gafsa, in Sidi Ahmed Zarroug, in 3 km from the city center, presents Arab-Andalusian architecture in the heart of a 40-hectare park. It includes 3 presidential suites, 2 junior suites with bathrooms and hydro massage bath, 37 mini suites, 78 air-conditioned double rooms with satellite TV, 20 of which are communicating. The hotel also has two rooms for disabled people. 5 restaurants, 4 bars and 1 Moorish café. 2 outdoor infinity pools including a thermal spa; 1 amphitheater for 400 people, games room; 2 sports halls, 2 tennis courts; 1 play area for pétanque. Significant reductions at the moment. (last update Feb. 2018)
• Gafsa Palace Route de Tunis, 2100 Gafsa,   216 76 217 600, fax : 216 76 217 670, e-mail : [email protected] 125 dinars full board in double room. – This hotel located north of the city, opposite the airport, offers 160 rooms, including 15 suites (1 presidential), or 400 beds, as well as 4 restaurants, 3 bars, 3 pizzerias, 1 Moorish café, 1 fitness, 1 outdoor pool and 1 indoor pool. (last update Feb. 2018)

Bed and Breakfast

• The other desert (In Ouled Yahya, Ségui near Mdhilla) – An ecological lodging (dry toilets, solar water heater ...) offering a guest room, but also the possibility of sleeping in a traditional tent or under one's own. Possibility also to follow courses, to be guided during hikes. (last update Feb. 2018)

Campsites

• Alhassan Campsite
• Camping Ghalia Telephone: 216 76 229 165

Communicate

Manage the day-to-day

Security

Around

• THE'Ain Soultane is a wetland in Lalla, 4 km by Gafsa.
• the red lizard train. From Metlaoui (40 km), an old train from the beginning of the twentieth century takes you up the mountain to discover spectacular landscapes.
• the Bouhedma national park, is characterized by the presence of the sub-Saharan savannah dominated by the gum tree (Acacia raddiana). A few park animals - many of them reintroduced - are exhibited in enclosures, the others roam free within the park. Its ecomuseum located near Bordj Bouhedma houses a reception, information and research center. From the site of the ecomuseum, a beautiful view of Jebel Bouhedma and the acacia forest is offered to the visitor.