El Haouaria Caves

About this place

The El Haouaria Caves are ancient quarries cut into the coastal rock at the northern tip of Cap Bon, just north-west of El Haouaria town. From the 7th century BC they supplied Carthage, about 60 km across the Gulf of Tunis as the crow flies, with soft, shelly sandstone, and quarrying went on into Roman times. The Greeks called it Hermaea, after Hermes, and the Byzantine historian Procopius records an old temple of Hermes at the town the Romans called Mercurium. In 310 BC Agathocles of Syracuse landed at the quarries to carry his war with Carthage into Africa. Blocks went by sea to Carthage's harbour and into some of its oldest tombs; the stone crumbles easily, so builders often plastered it. On the surface the quarries show as square shafts, over which lifting gear probably raised the blocks. Below, each cavern widens like a flask into a half-dark hall lit from above, some linked by narrow passages. Several are fenced off for safety, but the clifftop path has wide sea views. Each spring thousands of birds of prey gather over the cape before crossing to Sicily. The caves lie 2 to 3 km by road from central El Haouaria and about 100 km by road from Hammamet (1.5 to 2 hours), pairing well with Kerkouane and Kelibia fort on a Cap Bon day trip. After years of closure over fears of collapse, their reopening was announced in April 2026. The town is also known for falconry, with a long-running festival of trained sparrowhawks and falcons, usually in late June.