Beyond the E. end of the Boul. de France and the Place Carnot (Pl. C, 2) lies the Jewish Quarter. The Boul. de France leads to the W., past the Rue de la République, the chief business street of the new quarters, to the Marché aux Céréales (Pl. B, 3), which may be reached also by the Rue Victor-Hugo. Near this, adjoining the harbour of the fishing-boats, is the Marché (Pl. B, 3, 4) for pottery, where the large ‘jarres d’huile’, made chiefly by the Metellits (p. [380]), resemble the ancient amphoræ.
The picturesque but not over-clean old town is still enclosed by its battlemented *Town Walls, with their numerous towers and bastions. The fortifications next the sea, the Kasba (Pl. A, 3; barracks, no admittance) and the Bordj en-Nar (Pl. C, 2), were the chief objects of attack by the French ships and troops in 1881.
The old town is entered by the Bâb Djedid (Pl. A, 3), the Bâb Diwân (Pl. B, 2), at the end of the Rue de la République, and the new Porte Delcassé (Pl. B, 2; 1903). Its main streets are the Rue de la Grande-Mosquée, the shortest way to the Souks (see below), and the Rue du Bey (Pl. B, 2, 1).
In the Rue des Aïssaouas (No. 12), a few paces to the right of the Rue du Bey, is the Zaouïa Sidi ben-Aïssa (p. [373]), with its fine portal. The castigations practised by the sect may be seen here on Fridays, from 2.30 to 5 p.m.
In the Rue de la Driba, the third street to the right off the Rue du Bey, No. 4, on the left, is the Driba (Pl. 2; B, 2), a fine type of an aristocratic mansion, with a picturesque colonnaded court on the first floor (fee ½ fr.). Opposite, at No. 5 Rue Régulus, one of the Portals has the geometric ornamentation so common in every part of the town.
At the end of the Rue de la Grande-Mosquée rises the venerable Chief Mosque (Pl. B, 2), with its square whitewashed minaret, whose upper half is of the 13th century. The main façade recalls Syrian types (Kalat Simân), and the ten arcades of the interior are like those of the Sidi Okba mosque (p. [374]).
Just beyond the mosque are the Souks, or markets. Their centre is the vaulted Souk des Etoffes (Pl. B, 2), with a large assortment of ‘gadrouns’, the chief garment of the people of Sfax, blankets from Gafsa, etc. Its continuation, the Rue des Teinturiers, leads to the Bâb Djebli (Pl. A, 1), the picturesque N.W. gate.
To the right the town-wall is skirted by the Rue des Forgerons (Pl. B, 1), with its balconies. To the left, Rue Abd el-Kader 62, is the law-court of the Ouzara (Pl. A, 1; sits Wednesday and Saturday forenoons), with a pretty court.
Outside Bâb Djebli is the bustling cattle-market, enclosed by fondouks or caravanserais, where we have a pretty view of several saints’ tombs and palm-shaded gardens.
A pleasant glimpse of the country and its inhabitants is afforded by a drive to the Toual el-Chridi (tariff, see p. [380]; but bargain advisable). Beyond the Bâb Djebli we pass the large Feskias, or rain-water reservoirs, and then numerous Nasrias or small cisterns. The *Orchard Zone extends about 5 M. inland. Passing through olive-groves and flanked with straight rows of trees the road ascends to the (13½ M.) Toual el-Chridi (433 ft.), a hill with a geometric signal, a kind of pyramid in steps, where we have an extensive view stretching to the sea.