Nabeul — Secret Recipes of Neapolis

Nabeul reveals its earliest traces at the Neapolis archaeological site, excavated from 1995 to 2002 by the National Heritage Institute of Tunis and the Camille-Jullian Center of Aix-en-Provence. These Punic and Roman remains testify to flourishing trade: paved streets, thermal baths adorned with mosaics and especially those famous fish salting vats that made the city's wealth. The sandstone blocks extracted here went to Carthage and neighboring Roman cities, establishing Neapolis as a major commercial crossroads of the ancient Mediterranean.

The Arab conquest radically transforms the urban landscape in 674, when Abou al-Mouhajer seizes Cap Bon. In the 9th century rises the Great Mosque of Nabeul, one of the most important monuments of the Arab-Muslim era under the ruling dynasties. This mosque, erected at the heart of what would become the medina, marks the definitive transition from ancient Neapolis to Islamic Nabeul, while preserving the commercial heritage of its predecessors.

The medina of Nabeul is organized around its historic gates: Bab Bled as the main entrance, Bab El Khoukha and Bab El Zaouia completing the defensive system. Inside, specialized souks perpetuate artisanal traditions: Souk El Adada for blacksmiths, Souk Balga, Souk Yaoude in the former Jewish quarter, and Souk El Saïti dedicated to oil trade. The Ksar Nabeul, erected in the 9th century, oversees this economic activity that has never ceased since Antiquity.

The art of pottery revolutionizes Nabeul in the 17th century with the arrival of Andalusian craftsmen, who adapt their secular techniques to the Tunisian climate. These workshops, with their massive kilns still visible today, transform the city into a true ceramics capital. The weekly Friday morning market becomes the essential meeting point to admire these colorful pottery pieces, a tradition that endures and has attracted travelers from around the world since the 20th century.

Your journey through Nabeul has taken you from Punic salting vats to Andalusian pottery workshops, revealing how an ancient city managed to preserve and reinvent its commercial soul through the centuries. The Archaeological Museum, opened in 1984 and renovated in 2003, preserves this multicultural memory: Roman mosaics, Punic objects and testimonies of daily life that illuminate the history you have just relived.