Tunisia - Djerba Island

With an area of ​​514 km2, occupying one of the most strategic positions in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea and little endowed by nature, the island of Djerba has had a long and rich history. Sung by Homer under the name of "Lotophages' island", an essential step of the great Phoenician adventure towards the West, large counter of "industrial" productions and commercial and cultural exchange during classical Antiquity, land of "Ghriba" ", the oldest synagogue of all the Mediterranean West, peaceful refuge of the Ibadhites," stronghold "disputed by the great powers of the time during the Middle Ages, conservatory of" Homeric "landscapes and traditions millennia, Djerba kept from this rich past an archaeological, historical and intangible heritage of great variety: the Numidian mausoleum of Henchir Bourgou, the vast archaeological site of the opulent ancient city of Meninx, the venerable synagogue of Ghriba, the Turkish fortress of Ghazi Mustapha built on the site of an early ribat of the early days of Islam, many mosques of great purity and architectural originality, a dispersed habitat t ypique illustrating a great capacity of adaptation of the man to his natural environment and an original occupation of the ground. This rich cultural heritage does not hide the beauty and quality of the natural landscapes still safeguarded but which are threatened by the combination of several factors including the expansion of urbanization.