ETERNELLE DJERBA
"The Enchanted Island, Memory of the Mediterranean."

With an area of 514 km², Djerba is the largest island in the southern Mediterranean basin. Its strategic geographical location in the Gulf of Gabes, the ancient Little Sirte, has attracted the covetousness of great powers from the earliest times in the ancient world. Starting from the principle that destiny can never be changed, but must be fully embraced in order to live in harmony with it.

The island’s inhabitants, endowed with strong moral and social values such as tolerance, peaceful coexistence, and religious and communal harmony, have always welcomed immigrants, persecuted refugees, merchants, and adventurers with open arms. Thanks to this spirit of openness, they have lived in symbiosis with the great and illustrious ancient civilizations that have succeeded one another on the shores of the Mediterranean basin since time immemorial.

In a context of ongoing tensions and amid a chaotic and unstable situation, the Djerbian islanders, known for their ingenuity, skill, creativity, and pragmatism, have fully benefited from the know-how, innovations, and new techniques that have continuously flowed onto the island throughout the different eras of ancient times.

Most historians agree on the undeniable merits of these islanders who, through their lucidity and insight, established balanced relations with others by assimilating all their contributions and skills without themselves being assimilated.

To carry out this strategy that allowed them to preserve their identity and their right to be different—and to avoid being constantly receptive and dependent—they contributed perfectly to enriching, developing, and adapting everything that came their way according to their needs and environment. In a way, they added their own touch and signature to everything imported.

This choice eventually paid off and bore fruit, as they brilliantly resolved what historians call the difficult equation: while maintaining their openness to the outside world, they simultaneously established and upheld cultural boundaries and waged a legendary struggle throughout the Middle Ages (1135-1560) against powerful invaders such as the Spanish Empire at its peak and its Christian allies across Europe, successfully setting territorial demarcation lines.

This prestigious past and glorious history of Djerba, which earned it worldwide renown, are the foundation of its unique heritage, bearing great exceptional cultural values.

The writings, chronicles, and testimonies of numerous travelers, poets, and artists from all over the world evoke and describe an island that is both picturesque and striking. To express their admiration, renowned historians have dubbed it “The Enchanted Island,” and eminent novelists such as Flaubert, who fell under its spell, nicknamed it “Memory of the Mediterranean.”

The museum presents collections composed of numerous masterpieces of the island’s cultural heritage in all its splendor. It exhibits marvels of traditional arts and reconstructs rare and endangered ancestral crafts, ceremonies, and scenes of daily life, some dating back several centuries.

With great pleasure, the museum invites visitors to travel back in time and discover “its secret garden” and its magical circuits where every art object calls out to tell you a beautiful story and offer moving sequences and powerful moments—a spectacular adventure undertaken by a small island community in the sea of the ancient Little Sirte at the far south of the Mediterranean basin.

You will always be warmly welcomed to share with us an unusual journey through time following in the footsteps of the famous ancient Greek poet Homer (9th century BCE), who had the great merit of early bringing the island of Djerba into history in his famous epic The Odyssey (12th century BCE). You will be accompanied by the museum curator, who, together with multidisciplinary designers, has set an ambitious goal: first, to restore the legend of Ulysses in the Odyssey to its great symbolic value and evocative power, and second, to pay tribute to the ancestors by properly showcasing their various exploits, magnificent creations, and immense ingenuity.