During our 5 nights resort holidays on Djerba, I managed to visit most of the components spread over several mornings. The WHS can roughly be divided into mosques and agricultural zones. Plus, a church, a synagogue and 2 town centres. Mosques clearly make the biggest part, and it was fun to hunt them down. It required a fair amount of dirt and sand road driving to tick them all. Many mosques are still in use and thus closed for visitors, but from those I saw the interior through the windows I can confidently say, that you don’t miss out on anything for not entering them. Other mosques are no longer in use, and you can freely enter all rooms of these complexes.

What is quite special about this site is that, even though looking at the map it feels like the whole island is inscribed, it’s actually easy to miss. Even the reviews of those who visited before inscription show that. Not counting the mosques you probably drive by but would not notice as WHS material, your best chance to enter the core zone is probably visiting the old part of Houmt Souk for shopping. None of the component are that remarkable, that you would have visited anyway.

Do you need to visit that many components? Certainly not. But I can’t just sit an entire day by the pool, so here we are. For those who are as dedicated as I am, here’s an overview of my visits:

Sidi Ismail

Small mosque right at the beach next to the main road. Was closed

St Nicholas Church

Church at the main road in Houmt Souk. The building is walled off and only open each Thursday from 11 to 15. Only place I found on Djerba with some sort of plaque.

Houmt Souk

Old town with a covered Souk and the typical blue and white painted houses.

Jemaa el bessi

Active mosque. Large, walled off complex. Was closed, when I arrived. Cemetery behind the mosque.

Cheikh

Active mosque. Entry to complex open, but mosque closed.

Tadjit

Active mosque. Nice mosque with rather high tower. One of the side buildings functions as a small school, so the door to the complex was open

Tlakin

Mosque complex with a well. The inscribed building is probably no longer used as a mosque, as there is a newer building opposite. One of that few mosques, that had the door open

Medrajen

Active mosque. Entry to complex open, but mosque closed. Possible to sneak in through a window.

Aslaote

Active mosque. Smaller mosque. Complex open, but mosque closed.

Sidi Salem

Small mosque, just off the costal road. Mosque was closed

Sidi Jemour

Active mosque. Complex on a cliff, directly at the coast. Very nice location. Mosque and complex very closed, but you can see everything from the building on top of the complex.

Imghar Amghar

Very small building at the coast. Was used for a Star Wars movie. Open, but nothing inside.

El Fguira

Active mosque. Right at the main road in Djerba Ajim. Complex was open, but mosque closed.

El Methania

Active mosque. Just next to the road from Djerba Ajim to Guellala. Mosque closed, but you can peak in from the windows.

Tamazguida

Active mosque. Entry to complex open, but mosque closed. Can only be accessed via dirt road.

Sidi Yati

No longer used as a mosque and thus fully accessible, also inside. Seems to be somewhat popular. There is a parking space and a tourist facility nearby.

Jemaa Louta

Underground mosque in the middle of an olive grove. No longer in used and fully accessible, including interior.

Moghzel

Entry to complex open, but mosque closed. In an uninhabited zone. From the main road it’s about 1.5km on a creepy, super narrow desert road to get there.

Khazroun

Agricultural zone with old farm houses. Some still in use. You can see the typicall wells and sand walls with cacti on top to protect the crops.

Fadhloun

Active mosque. The only mosque that is also a museum. 5 Dinar entry fee. Very interesting, as you get access to all the buildings, like the granary or the prayer room. You can see the interior from the door. Museum seems to be only open from 8-12 in the morning.

Sedghiene

Another agricultural area. But it was hard to find the OUV of this particular part. Found wells, walls and one old and ruined farm house.

Sidi Zekri

Right inside the hotel zone. Nice little mosque. Interior closed. Unfortunately used as a dumpster. There was also a homeless guy sleeping there, when I visited in the morning. Would be nice, if they cleaned up the place

Synagogue

One of very few places I missed. There was a 3 day Jewish holiday, when I wanted to visit and they closed the Synagogue including the area, so you wouldn’t even get close. Protected by a guard with rifle.

Erriadh

Nice small old center but overrun by tourists. There were so many tour groups present at the time I visited, that the streets were packed.

Ben Biene

Very simple shaped mosque in the desert. Fully accessible, also inside. Can only be reached via dirt road.

Mejmej

Agricultural zone. I found grain storage, wells and of course olive and palm trees. Rather hard to say, what actually belongs to this component, as many parts of the island look like this.

Ouili

Beautiful mosque inside a olive grove. Fully accessible, also inside. Can only be reached via dirt road.

Berdaoui

Beautiful bit underground mosque. Fully accessible, also inside. Only a few 100m from the main road.

Abu miswar

Active mosque. Entry to complex open, but mosque closed. Right on the way to/from the airport. Has a parking lot.