Aryanah, Ariana Governorate, Tunisia

🇹🇳 Ariana (أريانة‎) is a coastal city in north-eastern Tunisia, part the agglomeration of Tunis, also called "Grand Tunis". It is located at the north of Tunis city centre. It is the capital of Ariana Governorate and the country's eighth largest city.

History The city's name seems to date back to the period of the Vandal Kingdom in pre-Islamic North Africa: the Vandals, in fact, were of Arian faith. It could also be a reference to Persian settlers from the Islamic invasion of the Maghreb as Persians refer to themselves as "Aryan".

The city's origins date back to the Zirid dynasty. Under the Hafsid sultan Muhammad I al-Mustansir, Ariana became the residence of the Sephardi Jews and Muslim Andalusians, who sought refuge in Ifriqiya in the thirteenth century.

Geography The city, whose area covers 18,000 hectares, and is the pole of an agglomeration covering seven districts for a population basin of 160,000 inhabitants. It is located in the middle of a vast plain bordered by the beaches of Raoued and Gammarth as well as the city of Carthage and the hill of Sidi Bou Saïd.

Economy Ariana owes its fame to its development agricultural and to its production of flowers, mainly roses.

The Rose Garden, located in Bir Belhassen Park is home to 16,000 rosebushes and cuttings, 90% of which belong to the variety known as “Ariana rose". The garden is extended by the Galerie de la Rose which develops the historical, natural and cultural aspects of this flower. A rose festival takes place every year in the spring.