Tunisia Way

GUERMESSA

As seen from west, right before you make the final climb to the mosque. At this photo, the houses almost merge with the mountain peak. You see two lines of houses starting to the left of the mosque, one line right below and the other a bit up.

Guermessa is the third, and least known mountain village to the west of Tataouine. Most travellers go to Douiret and Chenini, but Guermessa involves about 15 km of travelling on heavy piste, so it is left out.

As seen from east: The mosque is almost disappearing between the two peaks. The main part of the old village is running along two belts along the peak to the right.

Guermessa is the type of village that served several purposes at the same time. Building up in the mountain, with the mountains as part of the houses made them cooler, and at the same time the mountains also protected the inhabitants from villains.
Today, there are no more villains, and modern comfort is not easy to fit with the rugged walls of the old mountain houses. Therefore, old Guermessa is almost totally abandoned. The excellent guide book series, Rough Guide Tunisia, wrote that it would be abandoned within a decade or so. After my visit in 2000, I could see no traces of locals living here anymore.

 The mosque

The mosque of Guermessa is by itself not a major architectural achievement, just as is the case of the similar mosques of Chenini and Douiret. But with a setting between two peaks, and even simpler village houses made from stones from the mountain, the white mosque is startling.
Today, the mosque is doubling as a café. On these photos I deliberately cropped the café out of the image, but it is there, with a very persistent young man trying to convince you to enter. You might just manage to spot him sitting there, right in front of the mosque.

Northern dwellings 

The simple fact that there is a teamwork between the mountain and the houses, make it difficult to take clear and good photos near the northern dwellings. Right here you see me standing in front of a house along the top belt of houses. Right below are some rare examples of houses that are not built into the mountain side. Further one, the valley that offers some possibilities for agriculture.

Southern dwellings 

The access is slowly disappearing near the southern dwellings, as the roofs of the houses in from fall in. But still the facades of the houses have the freshest appearance of all here in Guermessa. But no house is any longer in use.