May 12, 2012

0203 TUNISIA (Tunis) - Sidi Bou Said, the town in blue and white


Sidi Bou Said, located about 20km from the capital Tunis, it’s a special town. With a population which slightly exceeding 5000 inhabitants, it got its name for Abou Said ibn Khalef ibn Yahia Ettamini el Beji, a Sufi saint who lived there in 13th century. The town is a tourist attraction, but also has the reputation of a town of artists, being visited by Paul Klee, Gustave-Henri Jossot, August Macke, Saro Lo Turco, Louis Moillet, and more members of Ecole de Tunis.

During the 1920s, Rodolphe d’Erlanger, French painter and musicologist specializing in Arabic music, applied all over the town the blue-white theme, which remained to our day a feature of the city. The cobbled main square, Place Sidi Bou Saïd, is lined with cafes and souvenir shops. The main attraction is Dar El Annabi, a magnificent old house with at least 50 rooms. Although the owner still lives in the house, the public can explore much of it, and at the top the roof doubles as an observation deck giving magnificent views of the Gulf of Tunis and Bou Kornine, the mountain on the opposite side of the bay. I think that is the building from the image.

About the stamp
The stamp is part of the Medicinal Plants series, issued on June 28, 2011, and composed by:
• Garlic / Allium sativum (250 TND)
• Anise / Pimpinella anisum (250 TND)
• Lemon Verbena / Lippia triphylla (600 TND) - it’s on the postcard
• Rosemary / Rosmarinus officinalis (1000 TND)

References
Sidi Bou Said - Wikipedia

Sender:
Hmida Bennour (direct swap)
Sent from Tunis (Tunis / Tunisia), on 05.05.2012

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