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Hillside cave village
Not unlike Chenini,
Douiret is a village that has been cut out of the hillside, and follows
the mountain for about a kilometre. Except at the centre, around the
white, simple, and beautiful mosque, it's only one street. Douiret is
now very much abandoned, and only a handful of the houses are
inhabited.
The effect is striking, even if houses all have the same
colour as the mountain behind, and it is really only the kalaat on top
of the hill right behind the mosque, as well as the white mosque
itself, that is visible from a distance.
According to reports from 1850, about 3,500 people lived here in the
time when Douiret was a caravan relay post. Today, only 5 families,
with 20-30 members keep up the tradition. They have even taken care of
their Berber language.
But
what is happening now is that all young are not only leaving old
Douiret in order to live in the new, and dull, settlement a bit down
the valley,- are also changing into Arabic language.
When
you walk along the one long street, you'll see some few women dressed
in colourful, traditional garment, still staring surprised at you even
after all these years of tourism, you'll see small goats and all the
small doors that often are highly ornamented. The main income of
Douiret is olives, and the oil is pressed here by camel-powered
constructions.
White mosque
The mosque of Douiret, the Nakhla Mosque, has been heavily restored.
Upon my last visit it was closed, but should have opened for visitors
in 2004.
Much
of it is new, but the rock-hewn prayer hall is original and many
centuries old. It is even possible that it was originally a church from
Byzantine times.
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About Tunisia 
