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Tozeur
The following Tozeur travel guide is based on our own experience and therefore description given in the guide necessarily contains an element of subjective opinion which may not reflect your own experience on another occasion.
Tozeur in short - Key Attractions
- The oasis of Tozeur
- Geometric desert-exotic designs on homesteads
About Tozeur
A small town of Tozeur which once used to be an essential stopover for the camel caravans crossing the Sahara Desert is located in southern Tunisia – in a short distance from Matmata and Chott el-Jerid. Due to its location and facilities it has become recently a popular tourist stopover on the way to the Sahara Desert and mountain oases of Chebika, Tamerza and Mides. It is one of the most pleasant oasis towns in southern Tunisia. Due to a large number of palm trees the town is known as “the land of the palm trees”.
Main two attractions in the town are in our opinion its architecture and the oasis.
The architecture
Tozeur has very interesting architecture made up of dusty-ochre bricks creating pleasant geometric designs on the facades of the buildings. It may be surprising to find such designs in a place where living is very hard due to extremely warm climate.
The oasis of Tozeur
The oasis of Tozeur covers around 10 sq km and has approximately 200,000 palm trees. It is watered by irrigation system of approximately 200 springs flowing at 165 gallons per second. This green fertile agriculture land which is located in the middle of dusty desert due its three tier growing system produces an incredible variety of food. First tier starts with date palm trees of which the branches act as an umbrella over the garden protecting it from the sun - second tier are fruit trees (figs, apricots, bananas) and the last tire grows herbs and vegetables.
Published on 18th January 2010
By Arek Zasowski
Photographs by Viola and Arek Zasowski
Useful information and our recommendations
The oasis is definitively worth to visit – you may stroll around countless palm trees taking hundreds of photos – if you like photography.
To explore the oasis in full you may purchase a short horse carriage trip. It is a very convenient and cheap way to explore the area.
Tozeur is usually included into the itinerary of two days excursions to the desert from costal resorts like Port el Kantaoui. If you decide to purchase one, you most likely will stop in Tozeur for couple of hours to explore this interesting green oasis town. It is really worth a visit.
