Light House

The famous Light House of Sidi Bou Said in Tuins is one of the city's landmarks that was once used to guide the boats in Punic and Roman times. A visitor can walk through cobbled streets up to the lighthouse and enjoy these wonderful views of the Gulf of Tunis on the Mediterranean at the entrance to the Bay of Carthage (now the Bay of Tunis). The lighthouse stands atop a high hill known as Jebel el-Manar ("Fire Mountain"), which was so called because fires were built here as long ago as Phoenician times to guide sailors into the bay. The area was made a place of pilgrimage since the sanctuary of the Muslim hermit Abu Said Ibn Khalef Ibn Yahia el-Beji (commonly known as Sidi Bou Saïd) was installed here in 1231. The hermit's tomb lies near La Marsa, about 20 km (13 mi) northeast of Tunis.