Tunisia’s Mountaintop jewel: Le Kef
Perched 800 meters above sea-level, Le Kef’s cool mountain air and sights rarely visited by tourists provide refreshing change of vista to travelers. Drawn by plentiful springs, this area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. El Kef is a good stop to add to your Tunisian vacation, the amount of things to visit is impressive and the hill climbs will keep you fit.

In their ever-enterprising spirit, Carthaginians erected the first town and became widely recognized for their temple prostitutes at Astarte’s sanctuary. After the Carthaginians and their goddess of love were ‘decamped’ by the Numidians, the area then became a Roman stronghold. Had there been ancient beauty pageants, the Carthaginian goddess Astarte would have lost her title to the Roman goddess of love, Venus, the newly crowned “Miss Sicca Veneria”.

History marched forward and the Vandals won Le Kef, followed by the Byzantines then the Arabs, the Ottomansand the rule of the beys. Such a colorful past means that each visitor has left their mark and Le Kef has a number of sites to visit. Le Kef’s main fort, the Kasbah, has been renovated to house a museum, some shops and a café. Elsewhere in Le Kef, a museum of popular arts and traditions provides insight into the region’s Berber nomads. A visitor to Le Kef can undertake a spiritual journey taking in the Great Mosque, the resting place of the town’s patron saint, Sidi Boumakhlouf, the Al-Ghriba Synagogue and the Church of St Peter.