El Tur – The remnants of old Arab traditions

Originally posted on February 9, 2014 


In a little visited pocket of El Tur, the capital of South Sinai, you find the remnants of old traditions: beautifully built old houses, once home to a thriving community around a shipyard, and still a few of those craftsmen who build ships. The houses were made with rock from the sea, wood, palm trunks and earth as mortar. They are beautiful examples of the Arabic architecture that you find all along the East African coast, through Lamu and Zanzibar as far as Mozambique. Unfortunately time destroyed most of these structures here in El Tur, but a few still stand intact. Also, I’m happy to see that the old boat building tradition hasn’t died out completely yet.

A tip for those who want to build wooden furniture themselves: here you can get beautifully shaped quality hard wood, ideal for tables, shelves and benches.


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