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  Places of Interest Mahdia    
 
  MAHDIA

Mahdia lies on a peninsula just 50km south along the coast from Sousse. Its geographical position (on the water and close to the important center of Sousse) has defined its history. After defeating the last of the Aghlabids in 909, the new Fatimid ruler of Tunisia needed a capital to provide security from the hostility of the Sunni majority. Mahdia was founded in 916 AD as a result. The first Fatimid ruler, Abeid Allah, was known as El-Mahdi - the Saviour of the World. Mahdia took its name from him.

The original Fatimid city was protected by a massive wall (up to 10m thick) that cut across the peninsula, creating an enormous Kasbah. The area within these walls was a royal compound, reserved for the Mahdi and his entourage. The kasbah contained a couple of palaces and their outbuildings, a mosque and a port. The Mahdi's subjects lived outside the walls in the suburb of Zawila.

Grand Mosque
A 1970s reconstruction of what must have been built a thousand years ago by Mahdi in the 10th century. Characteristic Fatamid elements include the monumental entrance (through which only Mahdi and his entourage were allowed) and the deep niches in the entrance gate and prayer hall façade. The courtyard was used as a cemetery by the Spaniards but when they left in 1554, they exhumed the bodies and took them to Palermo.

Skifa El-Kahla
The massive fortified gates are all that remain of the original mosque, blown up by Spanish troops as they abandoned Mahdia to the Turks in 1554.

Mahdia weekly market, on Fridays, is also a nice attraction not to miss. Just remember to arrange your visit in the morning as everything will have been wrapped up by 13:00. A Ladies' Market takes place inside the Skifa El-Kahla. Local women sell handmade embroideries and other wares.

Fatimid ports
Now largely silted up. The pillars flanking the entrance are all that remains of the formerly enormous harbor defenses.

Fortress (Borj el-Kebir)
A large fortress standing on the highest point of the peninsula. It was built in the 16th century on the ruins of an earlier Fatimid structure. The view from the ramparts is wonderful. The story is that the subterranean tunnel off the narrow entrance passage leads to El Jem, at least 50 km to the middle of the Sahel. The claim is that elephants carried building stones for the construction of the amphitheatre through an underground tunnel from the port at Mahdia. However, it is highly unlikely that there was any Roman settlement here.
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