Sacred places in Tunisia: temples, churches, shrines and mosques

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Islam · Kairouan · 670 (lập), dựng lại toàn bộ năm 836 thời Aghlabid, hoàn thiện tới khoảng 866Great Mosque of Kairouanجامع عقبة بن نافع, Jami Uqba ibn Nafi, Mosquée Sidi Okba, Grande Mosquée de Kairouan, Great Mosque of Kairouan, Thánh đường Sidi Uqba

The oldest and most prestigious mosque in the Maghreb, founded by Uqba ibn Nafi in 670 alongside the city of Kairouan and completely rebuilt in stone in 836 under the Aghlabid prince Ziyadat Allah I. Featuring a three-tiered square minaret, a 17-aisle hypostyle prayer hall supported by marble and porphyry columns, and a 9th-century teakwood minbar regarded as the oldest surviving wooden pulpit in the Islamic world, it served as the architectural model for North African mosques and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Kairouan, 1988)Médina de Kairouan, Kairouan, Tunisie (trong thành cổ Kairouan)

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Photo: MAREK SZAREJKO from CLONMEL, IRELAND - POLAND, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Judaism · Medenine Governorate (Djerba Island) · Theo truyền khẩu thiêng liêng được các tư tế Kohanim lập nên sau biến cố Đền thờ Giêrusalem thứ nhất bị phá hủy năm 586 trước Công nguyên (hoặc năm 70 Công nguyên); tòa giáo đường hiện tại được trùng tu và mở rộng cuối thế kỷ 19 tới đầu thế kỷ 20; được UNESCO ghi danh Di sản Thế giới năm 2023El Ghriba Synagogue, DjerbaKanisat al-Ghriba, Beit Knesset El Ghriba, Synagogue de la Ghriba a Djerba, Ancient Synagogue of the Kohanim at Hara Sghira (Erriadh), Djerba Island

Africa's oldest continually operating synagogue and one of the world's most revered Sephardic Jewish pilgrimage sanctuaries, located in the ancient village of Erriadh (Hara Sghira) on the UNESCO-listed island of Djerba, Tunisia, traditionally founded by Kohanim priests bearing a sacred stone from Solomon's Temple after 586 BCE and celebrated for its blue ceramic-tiled prayer halls, ancient Torah scrolls, and the annual Lag BaOmer Hiloula pilgrimage.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Key Monument of 'Djerba: Testimony to a settlement pattern in an island territory', inscribed September 2023, Ref. 1640) and Oldest Continually Operating Synagogue in AfricaHistoric Village of Erriadh (Hara Sghira), 7 km south of Houmt Souk, Djerba Island, Medenine Governorate, Republic of Tunisia

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Photo: Dr. Ondřej Havelka (cestovatel), CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Catholicism · Tunis Governorate · Đức Hồng y Charles Lavigerie đặt viên đá đầu tiên ngày 19 tháng 5 năm 1890; khởi công xây dựng năm 1893 theo thiết kế của kiến trúc sư Leon Bonnet-Labranche và khánh thành dịp lễ Giáng Sinh năm 1897; trở thành Nhà thờ chính tòa duy nhất của Tunisia theo Hiệp ước Modus Vivendi năm 1964 và đón Giáo hoàng Gioan Phaolô II ngày 14 tháng 4 năm 1996Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul, TunisCathedrale Saint-Vincent-de-Paul et Sainte-Olive de Tunis, Katidra'iyyat al-Qiddis Fansan di Bul bi-Tunis, Metropolitan Roman Catholic Cathedral of Tunis on Avenue Habib Bourguiba

The metropolitan cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tunis standing on Place de l'Independance along Avenue Habib Bourguiba at the threshold of the historic Medina, erected between 1893 and 1897 to a Romano-Byzantine and Moorish Revival design by architect Leon Bonnet-Labranche in honor of Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Oliva of Palermo, and visited by Pope John Paul II in April 1996.

Metropolitan Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tunis (Heir to the Ancient Primatial See of Carthage) and Historic Architectural Landmark of Avenue Habib BourguibaPlace de l'Independance, Avenue Habib Bourguiba, near Bab el-Bahr (Porte de France), Central Tunis, Republic of Tunisia

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Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Islam · Tunis Governorate · Khởi nguyên năm 698 (79 lịch Hijri) dưới thời danh tướng Hassan ibn al-Nu'man và mở rộng năm 732 (114 AH) bởi tổng trấn Ubayd Allah ibn al-Habhab; tái thiết quy mô lớn bằng đá từ năm 856 tới năm 864 dưới triều đại Aghlabid; xây thêm vòm Bahu năm 990 thời Zirid, các cổng vòm thời Hafsid và ngọn tháp minaret cao 43 mét năm 1894Al-Zaytuna Mosque, TunisJami al-Zaytuna al-Ma'mur, Mosquee Ezzitouna de Tunis, Great Mosque of the Olive Tree in Tunis, Historic Seat of Al-Zaytuna Islamic University in the Medina of Tunis

The historic 5,000-square-meter congregational mosque ('Mosque of the Olive Tree') anchoring the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Medina of Tunis, founded between 698 and 732 CE and rebuilt in stone under the Aghlabids from 856 to 864 CE with 184 antique Carthaginian columns, ninth- and tenth-century ribbed domes, a 43-meter Almohad-style minaret, and the world's oldest continuously operating Islamic university (established 737 CE), alma mater of Ibn Khaldun.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Heart of the Medina of Tunis, inscribed 1979, Ref. 36, Criteria ii, iii, and v), Oldest Congregational Mosque of Tunis, and Cradle of Al-Zaytuna University (Founded 737 CE)30 Rue Jamaa Ezzitouna, Heart of the Historic Medina of Tunis, Tunis, Republic of Tunisia

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Photo: Amal Werthi, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Islam · Kairouan Governorate · Abu Zam'a al-Balawi tử trận và được an táng tại vùng đất Kairouan năm 654 Công nguyên (34 AH); lăng mộ trung cổ được tái thiết thành quần thể Zaouia, trường kinh học Madrasa và thánh đường tráng lệ từ năm 1629 tới năm 1665 dưới thời Hammuda Pasha Bey và Murad II Bey triều đại Muradid, mở rộng cuối thế kỷ 18 thời HusainidZaouia of Sidi Sahabi, KairouanZawiyat Sidi al-Sahabi, Maqam Abi Zam'a al-Balawi, Mosquee du Barbier de Kairouan, Mosque of the Barber, Shrine and Madrasa of the Companion of the Prophet in Kairouan

A revered seventeenth-century mausoleum, madrasa, and mosque complex in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Kairouan (popularly known as the Mosque of the Barber), enshrining the 654 CE tomb of Abu Zam'a al-Balawi, a Companion (Sahabi) of the Prophet Muhammad who carried three blessed hairs of the Prophet's beard, celebrated for its Muradid and Husainid courtyards adorned with polychrome Qallaline ceramic tiles and carved stucco lacework.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Key Monument of the Kairouan World Heritage Property, inscribed 1988, Ref. 499, Criteria i, ii, iii, v, and vi) and Premier Pilgrimage Zaouia of North AfricaAvenue de la Republique, northwest of the Medina ramparts, Kairouan, Kairouan Governorate, Republic of Tunisia

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Photo: Jan Ciągliński, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

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This library is open and free, and it records its own progress in public. Three things you can help with today:

Name a place we missedA founding temple, a church, a mosque, a shrine the table above does not have. Send the name, the province, and one line on why it belongs.
Send a photograph with an open licenceNothing is published without both the photographer and the licence. Your own photograph with your permission, or an openly licensed one, are both welcome.
Report an errorA wrong date, a wrong original name, a wrong lineage, a wrong address. A library that is wrong once is not trusted again, so corrections are very welcome.

Write to thayungkhiem@gmail.com

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24/10/2026Completed three major initiatives on the same day: (1) Verified primary international sources and published the remaining 199 full English editions across 192 countries and territories, officially completing Stage D with 100% bilingual Vietnamese and English coverage across the entire library. (2) Visually verified and published 35 openly licensed Wikimedia Commons photographs for 22 sites in Vietnam and 13 international sanctuaries. (3) Authored 100 new bilingual sacred place monographs with real photographs for Stage C across 25 countries and territories (South Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Canada and Mexico), expanding each from 1 to 5 places and bringing the library to 761 sacred places.
29/09/2026Officially opened the doors of Hall of Myriad Paths to readers worldwide as a living spiritual library that grows every day. On the same day, authored 60 new Stage A sacred place monographs across 60 countries in the Nordic and Baltic regions, the Balkans, the Gulf, Central Asia, European microstates, Africa, Oceania, Latin America and the Caribbean (including Roskilde Cathedral, Hallgrímskirkja, the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius, Ostrog Monastery, Malé Friday Mosque, Sulayman-Too, Old Orhei, the Temple in the Sea and Ambohimanga), while verifying and publishing 59 openly licensed photographs for the second and third batches.
28/09/2026In the Main Hall, transformed 174 sacred symbols of faiths and branches into raised 3D forms so visitors can select their own tradition before making an offering, alongside a public record of milestones. In the Places section, authored 30 new Stage A monographs across 30 countries in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America (including St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Rila Monastery, Svetitskhoveli, Etchmiadzin, al-Qarawiyyin, the Great Mosque of Djenné, Namugongo and the Basilica of Luján).

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?Quick Questions

Why are there no opening hours or ticket prices

Because they change constantly. A library that is wrong once about a practical detail loses its standing on everything else. Check with the place itself before you travel.

Where do the images come from

From Wikimedia Commons under open licences, each credited to its photographer, or photographed by UK MASTER ACADEMY. No image is published without both its author and its licence.

How were these places chosen

Four tests: it is officially listed as a heritage site, it belongs to a tradition this library covers, its site and orientation can be read in feng shui terms, and an openly licensed photograph exists.

Why is my country still grey

The library opens one country at a time, beginning with the countries that have the most readers, and within each country with its most significant places. A grey country is simply one whose turn has not come. Suggestions are welcome through the page of Master Ưng Khiêm.

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