Djerba behind the façades: a tower of skulls and a settlement with no centre
A fortress that carried a pyramid of skulls after one battle, and an island that never had a real capital because every family built itself a small fortress instead.
- Borj el Kebir
- First fort in 1289
- The Battle of Djerba
- 1560
- The tower of skulls
- Pulled down in 1848
Two things on Djerba carry a longer story than the sign in front of them: the fortress in Houmt Souk that after one naval battle was named for a pile of skulls, and the way the whole island was settled — without a single real town at its centre.
1. Borj el Kebir: the fortress that carried a tower of skulls
The first fort on this spot was raised in 1289 by the Aragonese admiral Roger of Lauria, to control the island from the sea. The fortress took its present form in the 16th century, named for the Ottoman commander Ghazi Mustapha, who settled on Djerba in 1559. A year later, at the Battle of Djerba, the Ottoman fleet under Piyale Pasha and Dragut defeated a Spanish armada that had tried to take the island back.
After the victory, Borj er-Rous, the "tower of skulls", was built from the remains of the fallen soldiers — a pyramid of around six thousand skulls that stood beside the fortress for nearly three centuries, until it was pulled down and its remains buried in 1848. The fortress itself is now a national monument with a small museum, and is seen from the market in Houmt Souk.
A house with no window onto the street, and an island with no centre
Instead of one town, the island has been settled since the 9th century in menzels — family compounds ringed by a wall with not a single window facing outward, with corner towers that give them the look of small fortresses. Inside is a courtyard with vaulted rooms around it, and its own cistern for rainwater, since the island has no river. Clusters of menzels form settlements with no square and no centre, linked by a network of roads to a shared mosque or market.
It's exactly that pattern — settlements with no centre, adapted to a dry island with no water source — that got Djerba onto the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2023, not for one building but for the whole network of menzels, mosques and roads.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What is the tower of skulls in Houmt Souk?
Borj er-Rous, a pyramid of around six thousand skulls of soldiers killed after the 1560 Battle of Djerba, pulled down in 1848; only the Borj el Kebir fortress stands there today.
Why is Djerba on the UNESCO list?
Since 2023, for its menzel settlements — family house-fortresses with no centre or square, adapted to an island with no river.
What is a menzel?
A family compound with no windows onto the street, with a courtyard, vaulted rooms and its own cistern for rainwater.
Ready for Djerba?
Where to next
What to eat in Djerba
→Fish from the Houmt Souk market, a tajine baked in a clay dish and harissa that sits on every table for free…
El Jem · 159 km
→A Roman amphitheatre for 35,000 in the middle of an olive plain — an hour from the beach
How well does Djerba suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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