actu
news
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culture I culture I
ثقــافـة
New Tunisian pleasures, by Sicca Venier
The Gordian knot
My great-grandmother was forced to emigrate, all by herself, outside
of her homeland, Calabria : we don’t know for sure if her husband, in
conflict with the law, had run off to the mountains or if he was serving
his sentence in prison - this stayed one of those family secrets no one
speaks about, thanks to the taboos.
But it took a great deal more to demolish this woman’s spirit, who was
used to cope with life’s challenges of all sorts and overcome them with
resignation, persistence and the fundamental optimism of « nature »
people with simple minds (in a good way).
Also, in order to provide for her two young children, she became by
necessity canteen manageress for the Zouaves of the African army.
Before that, she was just a hillbilly.
My grand-mother - her daughter, only a few months old - was still in
swaddling clothes, when her mom carried her behind the cartage that
had crossed the Algerian-Tunisian border : this authentic « Anabase »
marked the beginning of the French occupation at the end of which the
Protectorate (1881-1956) was in place.
In short, let’s leave the history with a capital H to come back to this brave
woman who, as soon as she arrived in the Kef, decided to settle down in a large
market town, near the border, exchanging her mobile canteen for a restaurant
that would finally give her a permanent basis. Her older son, a strong teenager,
was now able to help her with the sometimes dangerous work.
She had to keep the pot boiling ; hesitating or trying to find elsewhere
a hazardous adventure were not options.
It is only natural that a strong garrison of Zouaves established
barracks in the Kasbah of the Kef, built by the Turks with large blocks
of cobbletsones, dating back to Roman times.
”
A good and significant customer base for the new innkeeper.
1. Fortification de la Kasbah
datant de la période ottomane
I The Kasbah’s fortification
dating back to the ottoman
period I
تحصينات القصبة التي تعود إىل
I العهد العثامين
2. Intérieur de la basilique
romaine I The interior of the
Roman Basilica I
I
صورة من داخل كنيسة الروم
1
La Gazelle 56 I
64
t
he Kef, mixed by occupations and
cultures, Numidia’s capital during
a long period of time under the
leadership of Massinissa, king of
Massyles, is taken by the Romans
in 46 BC and adopts the name
Africa Nova. The city, very prospere
in the 2nd and 3rd century becomes a bishopric around
256 and maintains its religious role for a long time.
City of the “Haut Tell”
We walk up the Kef’s streets to reach to fortified
Kasbah, surrounded by a curtain wall now
disappeared, which was the heart of a defense
system including the medina.The citadel got its
current form at the beginning of the 19th century
under the leadership of Hamouda Bacha, determined
to free the place from Alger’s supervision.
We keep walking toward the Roman Basilic beneath
the citadel. A cobblestone block, composed of an
atrium and a cruciform room covered by a unique
herringbone vault. Proportions that would be the
envy of connoisseurs. It feels good to live in the Kef,
we sit down at the Sidi Bou Makhlouf café for a
sunbath, Najet El Saghira on the radio and the lively
conversations of a group of young friends. There is a
Kef pride. Proud of the millenia-long history of this
city built along a hillside. A man indicates Bourguiba’s
old palace. A luxurious garden, also residence of the
current governor, where Bourguiba gave a speech in
December 1962.
« After getting rid of the foreign domination and the
beylical regime, his main concern is to work, by all