The medina of Gabès is small compared to those of Tunis or Sfax but it has its own character. The covered souk — the Jara souk — is the heart of the old town, and it is unusual for its specialisation in henna, basketwork, and items made from the products of the oasis. The smell of henna, drying in bunches in the shops, is everywhere.
The lanes off the main souk are quiet and residential, with whitewashed houses and the occasional surviving carved doorway from the Ottoman period. The medina suffered badly during the Second World War, when German and Allied forces fought through the city, and much of the older fabric was lost. What remains is genuine, lived in, and worth an hour's wandering — but do not come expecting the polished medinas of the north.