Guermessa
| Guermessa |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||
| administration | |||
| Country |
 Tunisia
|
||
| Governorate | Tataouine | ||
| Délégation (s) | Tataouine Sud | ||
| Post Code | 3271 | ||
| geography | |||
| height | 350 m | ||
|
|||
| Coordinates | 32 ° 59 ′ N , 10 ° 16 ′ E | ||
Guermessa or Qirmisa is an imposing, but largely abandoned Berber village in the Tataouine governorate in southern Tunisia .
location
Guermessa is located in the almost desert-like Dahar Mountains at an altitude of approx. 350 m above sea level. d. M. and about 21 km (driving distance) northwest of Tataouine . The worth seeing places Ghomrassen and Ksar Haddada are located about 13 and 16 km to the northeast. The Berber towns of Chenini and Douiret , which are worth seeing, are only about 5 or 12 km (as the crow flies) south .
economy
The inhabitants of earlier centuries lived as farmers and ranchers in a semi-nomadic way of life ( transhumance ), which continued into the first half of the 20th century. The often terraced fields received a little rainwater in winter and were harvested in April; in summer the cattle were moved to higher regions of the Dahar mountainous region. Since the 1940s, this way of life has been gradually abandoned - also because of the increasingly less rainy climate. Since the 1990s, Guermessa has become a tourist destination that is rarely visited.
history
As in almost all Berber settlements in the Maghreb, there are no records of the history of the place.
Attractions
- The scenic surroundings of the Dahar mountain region unfold their charms especially in the early morning hours or in the evening.
- The mosque , built from rubble but plastered , was not built until the 1940s. It has a squat looking minaret.
literature
- Hédi Ben Ouezdou: Découvrir la Tunisie du Sud. De Matmata à Tataouine - ksour, jessour et troglodytes. Faculté des sciences humaines et sociales, Tunis 2001, ISBN 978-9973-31-853-4 .
