Tunisia's island of myths — Homer's lotus-eaters, whitewashed villages, and ancient synagogue
Djerba is the largest island in North Africa — a flat, sun-bleached island connected to the mainland by a Roman causeway. This is said to be the land of Homer's lotus-eaters, where Odysseus's crew forgot to go home. The medina of Houmt Souk brims with blue-painted doors and artisan workshops; the village of Erriadh has been transformed by the Djerbahood street art project into one of the world's largest open-air galleries. The El-Ghriba Synagogue, the oldest in Africa (586 BCE foundation), draws Jewish pilgrims from across the world each spring.
Djerba has been continuously inhabited for over 3,000 years — Phoenician settlers established trading posts, followed by Romans who built the causeway still used today. The island became a Berber stronghold and later an Ottoman outpost; the skull tower of Borj Ghazi Mustapha memorialises a 1560 Ottoman massacre of Spanish and Italian forces. Jewish communities have lived continuously on Djerba for over 2,500 years, one of the oldest diaspora communities in the world. The island's distinct Djerbi architecture — whitewashed houch courtyard houses — developed over centuries of cultural layering.