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The Basins Of The Aghlabids

Kairouan, Tunisia

The basins of the Aghlabids

Kairouan

 

Erected in a semi-arid steppe area, the city of Kairouan had, at its inception, only very limited resources of drinking water. Thus, from the beginning, the city was haunted by the concerns arising from this deficit. And history has retained a testimony dating back to the years 734-741 in which the caliph of Damascus ordered his governor in Kairouan the development of about fifteen water tanks in the area for the supply of water to the population drinking.

Two monumental basins and a few cisterns have passed through the centuries to offer us today the image of majestic hydraulic installations, considered as the most important of the Middle Ages.

This complex covers an area of ​​11,000m² and has a capacity of 53,000m3. In the middle of the great basin, circular in shape with a diameter of 127.7m and 4.8m deep, was an octagonal tower where the Emir came to rest.

Today, this complex, recently enriched with new works cleared during earthworks, has been converted into a park and its access has been endowed with amenities for the comfort of visitors.

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