Tabarka is a guide's dream, all around the city clear traces of the exiting past are found. Yellow marble and lions were shipped out from there to the rest of the Roman empire. Some centuries ago, Tabarka was one of several pirate haunts, later it became a Genoese colony, before the Bey of Tunis in 1741 annexed it. Income for the inhabitants have been both coral fishing, exports of cork (even still), and ordinary fishing. Today a Genoese fort is clearly visible from anywhere, Remains of Ottoman forts are found on the hills above the town. The French constructed a jetty out to the island of the Genoese fort. Little is found of the Roman past, unless you visit the Bardo museum in Tunis. From the Punic past, only the name remains. Tabarka is very much a tourist town, but it is so far from being destroyed by the influx of Europeans, that nobody should feel like staying away. The town itself is quite un-Arabic, with rectangular streets, and houses with pitched roofs covered by red tiles. Colours are limited to white and red. The atmosphere is laid back, and even touts in the city or out on the way to the fort, are quite relaxed. A tourist centre is being established east of the town, but this will probably have little effect on the special feeling of Tabarka.
