Souk El Attarine

Souk El Attarine sign

Souk El Attarine (Arabic: سوق العطارين‎‎) or souk of perfumers is one of the souks of the medina of Tunis, specialized in perfume and beauty products trading.

History

An old photo of the souk

The souk was initiated by a sovereign of the Hafsid dynasty, Abu Zakariya Yahya, in 1240.^[1]

Location

It is situated near the Al-Zaytuna Mosque, facing its northern facade.^[1] It can be accessed from the north via the Sieve Street, Souk El Blaghgia and Sidi Ben Arous Street, from the west from Souk El Trouk and from the south by Souk El Fekka.^[2]

In this souk, we find a good number of historical monuments such as :

• Al-Zaytuna Mosque;
• Khaldounia;
• Madrasa Al Asfouriya;
• A branch of the National Library of Tunisia;^[2]
• Foundouk El Attarine.^[3]
• Madrasa Hamzia

• 
  Facade of Khaldounia
• 
  Minaret of the Al-Zaytuna Mosque

Products

Shops at the souk

This souk is famous for trading jasmine and rose water as well as amber and henna.^[2] Today perfume and beauty products trading is still the main fonction of the souk.^[2]

Notes and references

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the French Wikipedia.

1. "Souk el Attarine". culture.alecso.org (in French). Retrieved 20 December 2015.
2. "Souk Al Attarine". commune-tunis.gov.tn (in French). Retrieved 20 December 2015.
3. "Fondouk El Attarine". fondoukelattarine.com (in French). Retrieved 20 December 2015.