ZRIBA OLIA

ABSTRACT

Upper village view © C. Sorand

Zriba Olia is the name of a small Berber village located in the Zaghouan mountain range about sixty kilometers south of the Tunisian capital. It is a partially abandoned community. Yet, a few families still live there in an attempt to preserve their heritage. Most of the former village homes are in ruins nowadays. However, due to a fairly dry climate, the overall infrastructure is still visible. It would only take some funds and some hands to restore the site and turn it into a highlight spot. Right now, this is a valuable place for historians and anthropologists to explore as it still holds useful information on the Amazigh history of the country.

After describing its outstanding defensive and panoramic location, the text analyzes the elements that make Zriba Olia such a fascinating cultural and historical hotspot:

• The unique architectural style is known as the “ghorfa” style. In Arabic, the word ghorfa stands for a “room”. It describes an elongated narrow rectangle topped with a semi-circular roof. A door opens on one of the two limited sides and one or two small square openings let the light in. This type of construction is well-adapted to the climatic environment of the country. The ghorfa style is a Tunisian characteristic.
• Inside the ghorfa, the walls still keep the rests of a dark blue coating, which apparently served as a deterrent against the invasion of a sort of local gnats.
• The frames of some doors have kept some interesting symbolic designs. Among these two are particularly interesting. (1) One shows a horizontal lunar crescent crested with a star (obviously a Muslim symbol) flanked with two fish (this is a native sign brought by the Phoenicians as a harbinger of good luck). This sort of triptych is also typically Tunisian. (2) The next is a more typical Berber symbol that can be described as a Berber cross, having six points. Usually, this sign is made of a [X] crossed by a horizontal line [—]. As this sign has often been seen in many other Berber sites in Tunisia, Algeria, or Morocco, the author describes it as a solar wheel.
• In the heart of the village, one inhabitant has turned his house into a small local inn, made of four ghorfa in a square shape with an open yard in the middle. There seems to be a well standing there. In reality, it is the cylindric hole giving access with a ladder to the underneath cave-like storeroom! If among the Berbers, it is common to store their food products, the type found here at Zriba Olia is quite unusual.

A couple of other traditional houses have been kept in shape. But two other sites need to be mentioned:

1. a crenelated tower turned into a minaret,
2. A monumental marabout crested with five domes (5 being a holy Muslim number)

Consequently, this text also serves as a plea to preserve this outstanding local Berber heritage. It suggests that it could be renovated using a camp of young volunteers and eventually become a place for fair tourism.

C.S