Located in southern Tunisia, the island of Djerba (also known as Jerba) is famous since antiquity.
Subdued by his charm, Homer dedicated to him one of his poems. Ulysses made a stopover there, and nearly broke his journey, so much amazed by his shores.
The island is only 25 km long by 20 km wide. Its surface is flat. Its vegetation is almost absent, apart from palm trees and some olive groves. Do not forget, we are at the edge of the Saharan desert.
Djerba has no less than 130 thousand inhabitants. Its capital is Houmt Essouk, known for its crafts, jewelers and fishing port.
Since the 60s Djerba has gradually become a privileged tourist place with a hundred hotels, a golf, a casino and soon a marina.
To the south west of the island is Guellala, the village of potters. All of its inhabitants indulge in this ancestral craft. Vases, gargoulettes, pitchers litter the ground, along the only street. Some are clay-colored, others are of a brilliant whiteness. Do you know why?
They will explain to you that it is a matter of water. If the water used with the clay is salty it gives the color white. If the water is soft it gives the color clay.
On the southern outskirts of Houmt Souk is the Ghriba, a Jewish temple from the 6th century BC. It is the second highest place of Judaism in the world. It is also a place of pilgrimage. Indeed, in May the Jews, mainly from the Maghreb, come to collect themselves there.
