14 Jun - 17 Jun 2003 Mahdia

Central Mediterranean
Republic of Tunisia
Mahdia
Fishing Harbour
SY "Kamu II" alongside, in front of the harbour police.
TD 7.750 (€ 5.40) per day.

Click below for a bird's-eye view of our harbour berth:
N 35° 30.05' E 011° 04.04'

Click here for a summary of this year's travels:
2003 Map

Berthing alongside in the fishing harbour of Mahdia aka Al Mahdiyah (founded by the Fatimids under the Caliph Abdallah al-Mahdi in 921 CE and made the capital city of Ifriqiya, by caliph Abdallah El Fatimi), entering the town through the enormous 16th-century CE gate Skifa Kahla, visiting the 10th-century CE Great Mosque, wandering together with our daughter Ulrike through the ancient casbah - a maze of vine-shaded squares, narrow cobbled streets and old mosques, and climbing over the dilapidated graves of the old sailors cemetery and around the rocks at Cap d'Afrique aka Ras Ifriqiya, the extremity of this narrow peninsula.

Matt and Ulrike: Boarding a louage and visiting El Djem's 3rd-century CE amphitheatre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most impressive Roman monuments in Africa, capable of seating 35,000 spectators and mainly used for gladiator shows and chariot races, marvelling at the collection of intricate Roman mosaic floors in the El Djem Archaeological Museum and browsing through the souqs and ramparts of the fascinating medina at Sfax, where life and business behind the thick walls still go on as much as they have for centuries.