Gafsa (Latin: Capsa) is the capital of the same-named southwest Tunisian governorate. It abuts on a forest area (žarr) to its south, which has nearly the size of the town itself and provides a living space for the local flora and fauna.
Just one street separates this woodland from the Great Mosque and the Roman pools, two of Gafsa’s main architectural attractions.
The Roman Pools and the Great Mosque of Gafsa
Street between the woodland and the Roman baths
Inside the baths building
Franzi exploring the baths
Great Mosque of Gafsa
At the yard of the mosque
Spring in the mosque's yard
As the area of the town and its surroundings was in prehistoric times settled by the Mesolithic Capsian civilisation, a series of archaeological excavations are witness of this early culture. Nowadays, however, the governorate of Gafsa is famous for its phosphate mining which emerged at the end of the 19th century. The mining causes serious health problems and pollution in the whole region. Still, the town attracts many people from the adjacent governorates searching for a job. The dialect spoken in Gafsa as well as the speakers themselves, therefore, are very heterogeneous.
