Tozeur is an oasis and a city in south west Tunisia. The city is located North West of Chott el-Djerid, in between this Chott and the smaller Chott el-Gharsa. It is the capital of the Tozeur Governorate.
With hundreds of thousands of palm trees, Tozeur is a large oasis. The dates that are exported from Tozeur are very well known. In ancient times, before the advent of motorized vehicles, the oasis was important for the transportation through the Sahara, which took place in caravans. The name of the city in antiquity was Tusuros, it was an important Roman outpost.
In the medina (old city) of Tozeur, one can find traditional architecture, fashion and workmanship. Like elsewhere in Tunisia, the local population is generally very hospitable towards tourists, and there are also many tourist facilities.
The region of Tozeur and Nefta is known as the Jerid, a name which signifies “land of the palm”. The oases are the fruit of man’s work over thousands of years, which brought life and abundance to the heart of the desert; those of Tozeur and Nefta today have several hundred thousand palm trees. Several springs water the palm groves; “these streams are split into countless channels in stone canals, according to a scrupulously fair system”, wrote Ibn Chabbat in the 13th century. With the passing of centuries, the land became fertile and allowed agricultural cultivation in three levels: vegetable crops and cereals grow in the shade of fruit trees, which themselves are protected by the tall date palms. Tozeur and Nefta were also mandatory stops on the journeys of great caravans, and have long been prosperous. Tozeur occupies a special place in Tunisia as a cultural centre for the Arab language, and Nefta as an important site for Sufism.
