The intersection of civilizations and cultures, Tunisia absorbed not only the national gastronomy of the peoples inhabiting it and the words of foreign languages, but also the traditions of folk crafts . The most ancient peoples - Berbers and Phoenicians - left inherited the ability to weave mats and get natural dyes, the Spaniards introduced art wood carving and stone, and the Turks laid the foundation for the manufacture of fez and openwork lattices forged . Strolling through the market in Medina Tunisian towns, you see colored lights and engraved trays, glasses blown glass and Sun-shining silk stoles, exotic leather sneakers and cozy berber rugs with primitive ornamentation . Of course, all this is generously flavored with tourist goods, such as plush camels or tulle scarves with screaming monsters, but it is quite realistic to find a unique little thing among the pennies - you just need to know what to look for .

Put on yourself

The turkey's ability to process wool, transforming it into neat red hats, raised the Tunisians to a fantastic height - enough say that the local sheshi (the fezes are called here) were exported to Istanbul . in tons in the 18th and 19th centuries. Before turning into a sheesh, the wool goes through a long process of combing, soaking, staining, drying, acquiring the form and finally combing with dried heads special burdock . Traditional dense red color is nothing else than cochineal - a dye derived from the shell of bugs like ladybirds . These real sshi can be bought at Suk-el-Shahuashin - the market of merchants in the medina of the city of Tunis .

Mahdiysky silk and linen Hammamet -. Tunisians are well known crafts, synonymous with high quality manufacturing and garment processing . in Mahdia made of natural silk filaments to mechanical leg machines produced genuine masterpieces - scarves and stoles, four-meter cloth, worn in the country in the manner of a Roman toga (they can easily be used as bed covers), bags and even trimmed silk shoes . The latest trend - dresses of a modern style from embroidered with silk threads of silk cloth . Cutting embroidery on flax - the pride of the craftsmen of Hammamet, suffice it to say that the linen shirt and trousers are part of the traditional outfit of the local bride . From flax in the main sew dresses and tunics, but you can order something and to your liking . For silk masterpieces go to the shops of the medina of Mahdia, and quality flax can be bought, for example, in the boutique "Fella" in the medina of Hammamet .

Tunisian leather footwear is wear-resistant, qualitative and soulfully beautiful. Two main models (both men's) are presented - closed "winter" shoes with modest embroidery and traditionally bent backs - balga and open southern sandals with curved noses and woolen mat inserts. The first are sold throughout the country, mainly in the capital and northern regions, the location of the second - the markets of Duz and Tozer. Both options are almost eternal. Among other things, and shoes, and sandals can make on your measure.

As elsewhere in the East, in Tunisia, in great honor jewelry . In most cases, they use gold 750 ° and non-precious stones, such as fianites ( metal value is better understood than the value of the stone) . These products crammed with jewelry markets, the largest of which is located in the old town Familiar to us 585 disparagingly not taken the capital . into account and considered the option for the peasantry . At the same time, in modern stores you can find products in white gold with diamonds . Silver fans like massive Berber jewelry in the traditional style .Among the regional features are wonderful ornaments with corals in Tabarka, with pearls and colored stones in the city of Tunisia, as well as scab - products with the inclusion of pieces of amber, from contact with the warm skin emitting a subtle fragrant aroma .

Decorate the house

The center for the production of Tunisian knot carpets is the city of Kairouan, every second inhabitant of which is somehow associated with fluffy production .There are a lot of varieties: classic woolen carpets with traditional "paradise", "henna", "jasmine", "religious" patterns, striped kelima mats and ornamented mergums, Berber rugs with long nap of natural hues and masterpieces of craft - silk knot carpets, iridescent and reflective light like the wheat field under the wind .In the southern regions, you can buy bright orange-red-black mats with a schematic depiction of people, palms and camels, and Sidi-bu-Zid is known for textured wall panels of wool of different colors and processing quality .

The best ceramics of Tunisia is produced in northern Nabeul and the town of Gellala on the island of Djerba .Durable yellow-green plates and a variety of dishes in the range of blue, blue and orange shades are traditional for Nabel .Pay attention also to painted flower pots, decorative dishes, candlesticks and sets of saucers for snacks .In Gellal you can buy products from raw clay: jugs for water and storage of olive oil, sets for couscous and all sorts of small things, such as ashtrays and stylized clay baskets for household needs .

Blown glass is the traditional art of the Tunisian suburb of Carthage and Cape Bon. One of the most famous metropolitan studios is Sadika, here is also a museum of glass-making art. A variety of products are blown out of glass - dishes and vases, lamps and candlesticks, as well as all sorts of home decorations. A special glamor is the "cracked" glass and its combination with a copper base. By the way, blowing glass - one of the most ancient arts of the Mediterranean countries, known since the Phoenician times.

Work on copper - another traditional Tunisian craft .Depending on the alloy used, the products may be a traditional reddish or pure silver color .Copper is made of dishes (in "white" you can cook, and "red" is used to serve cold dishes), decorative dishes and vases, candlesticks with slotted calligraphic patterns .Very nice copper Turks and teapots for the preparation of Tunisian green tea with mint .Pay attention also to traditional bunk casseroles for couscous, caskets with a silk brush and carved buckets with a scoop for hammam .A large selection of copper products in the medina of Kairouan (here you can see how the artisans work), and the upmarket category can be purchased, for example, in the boutique KahenArt in Carthage .

The southern seaside town of Gabes, the mountain oases of Shebika, Tamegza and Meadows, and not least the capital of Cape Bon Nabeul offer an abundance of straw and vegetable fiber products: from mats and traditional baskets with round bottom to shades, chests and even garden furniture .Nabeul is better known for mats of fine work with the inclusion of red, blue and green straws, as well as quite modern and comfortable rectangular baskets with a lid and comfortable leather handles .In Gabes, pay attention to the numerous floor lamps and table lamps with thatched shades that create soft and warm light, and in the mountain oases do not pass by boxes and chests of dried grass of different shades and degree of rigidity .By the way, the door straw mat will last you for years .

Cages for birds - the main craft of the masters of Sidi Bou Said. White pot-bellied designs from openwork twisted wire with blue beads-inserts are made in different sizes - from tiny table-top souvenirs to giant structures above human growth. The shape of the cells resembles the roundness of the sidi-bu-Saida window grilles, so that the product will become a direct reminder of the picturesque village on the hill. About delight, which will come the owners of canaries, and do not have to say.

Calligraphy is another very ancient and traditionally oriental art, the emergence of which is associated with the religious ban on portraying people (so as not to create another god besides Allah) .Tunisian calligraphers are real artists who create full-color paintings with a written pattern that develops into amazing beauty flying forms .Some wise saying creates the outline of a jumping tiger or an elegant jug, and in the silhouettes of a luxurious palace there is a whole verse of the medieval Arabic poem .Calligraphers can write a canvas and on order with an awe-inspiring trembling personally you have a great idea .

Eat and smell

Finiki - the main gold reserve of Tunisia, exports of which to Europe almost exceed by the volume of supply of valuable natural resources .The main date region - the Jeerid area on the outskirts of the Sahara and its capital - Tozer city .The most valuable variety is deglet-ennur ("dates of light") with a light brown skin and translucent sugar flesh, through which a bone is shining .However, dates - so widespread goods that are abundantly sold throughout the country .Fresh fruits appear on the shelves at the end of October - November .Make sure that dates are sold on the branches (this ensures that they did not fall to the ground and did not become a house for bugs) .In the south at this time, you can buy cut whole bunches weighing 5-8 kg .

With sixty million olive trees, level rows covering the Tunisian plains, the country does not lack a quality and delicious olive oil .Varieties of olives here are several dozen, and each gives an oil of characteristic color and taste .It can be very soft or have a pronounced bitterness, be yellow or dark green, but any variety is fragrant, tasty and fantastically useful .Olives ripen in November-December, at the same time on sale there is a fresh oil .It can be bought in a spill at an olive-squeezing factory or put up in a store .Pay attention to the degree of acidity of the oil indicated on the label: it should be less than 1% .

A sharp all -uniss seasoning of Harissa is an indispensable introduction to any meal, a modest homemade or festive restaurant .Pasta from frayed hot pepper, garlic, spices and olive oil will be a perfect reminder of sultry Tunisia .You can choose from a 50-gram tube to a 5-kg can of a container .In addition, in food stalls, you can buy it by weight and milling - from homogeneous puree to a large chopped mixture .By the way, the very word "Harissa" means "chopped", "pereteraya" .To ensure that the charis is not exhaled and does not deteriorate, you can pour a thin layer of olive oil .To reduce the irritating effect on the stomach, be sure to use the oil with oil, preferably olive, as do Tunisians .

Traditional Tunisian sweets are sold everywhere in institutions called pâtisserie - confectionery .You can choose a variety of baklava based on nuts and honey syrup, "dry" sweet bombs or products from thin sugar dough .Despite the high sugar content, the sweetness of Tunisia is not luscious, but very delicate and delicious .The pleasure is not from the cheap - from 25 TND per kilo, but the cost corresponds to the spent work .The best sweets are made in Sfax and Tunisia (always visit the confectionery Zarrouk or Masmoudi), but they are abundant enough and in any resort .Sweets are stored for a long time, and they can be safely taken to Russia .

Flower distillates - pride of the Cape Bon region .The fragrant waters are produced by the grandfather's method using a distilling apparatus: in a large vat on the fire water boils with flowers of bitter orange, wild rose or geranium, condensate is collected on a clay dome-lid, from which it flows into a glass flask .Production season - April-May .Such a flower water perfectly refreshes on hot days (especially this is famous for flordorange) and saturates the skin with a mass of useful substances, which is especially important for intensive sunbathing .Distillates are sold in braided flasks in grocery stores and benches with pickles, spices and nuts .

The Arabian hookah has perfectly taken root in Tunisia: it is impossible to imagine a cafe from which the fragrant aroma of hookah smoke could not be heard .Hookahs come in different sizes, and if you intend to use it for their intended purpose, choose the size to the middle of the thigh or just above .Be sure to make sure that the edge of the reservoir with water tightly adheres to the "body" of the hookah .A useful accessory will be an iron cap covering the coals from wind blows, and tongs that can be used to correct the hot embers .Remember that a real hookah smokes only with water - the hot drinks in the tank will only spoil its flavor .

What to bring? A little spice,

ceramics ...

and fabrics!

We will add souvenirs

and olive oil: the set is ready!