Ouled el-Hadef is the old residential quarter of Nefta, a tight grid of narrow lanes lined with houses whose facades are decorated with the distinctive yellow-brick geometric patterns of the Jerid region. The patterns — diamonds, lozenges, zigzags, sun-discs — are made by setting the standard mud bricks at varying angles, and are unique to a handful of oasis towns in southern Tunisia.
The quarter is mostly residential and quiet; wander rather than tick off sights. There are a couple of small marabouts to look in on, and views back across to the Corbeille. The decoration is most concentrated on the older houses, which are slowly being lost — many newer buildings use plain rendered concrete, and the craft of the patterned brickwork is now practised by very few.