Tunis Village

The village of Tunis lies on a hill overlooking Lake Qaroun, about 60 km from Fayoum. Though fascinating and calm, the village underwent big changes in the 1980s when Evelyn Porret, a potter lady from Switzerland, moved to the village and started her own pottery studio. For more than 30 years, Ms. Porret, or the Swiss lady as people call her, has been training local children in pottery art. Today, the village is a reputable center of pottery and a destination for artists, tourists, and intellectuals. The village offers a pottery school, some pottery studios, a horse-riding training center, guest houses and eco-lodges. In addition, it provides services of desert and bird-watching guidance. An annual pottery festival is held in Tunis under the auspices of the Fayoum Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Tourism.

The Waterwheels

Being unique to Fayoum, the waterwheel is not only the symbol of the governorate but a main feature of its cultural legacy. It was first designed and introduced to the province in the Ptolemaic era (more than 2000 years ago) as the multi-leveled topography of the region required some machine to lift water to irrigate the fields. Though there are about 200 waterwheels scattered throughout the governorate, the most famous and picturesque of them are the four wheels in Qaroun square in Fayoum city.

The Obelisk

There is also a huge pink granite obelisk in honor of Nosret I in Abejij, one of the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty. Its height is approximately 13 meters, and it differs in shape from other obelisks, and its direction is not pyramidal, but rather turns from the hotel to the back. It looks like a rectangular plate with a hole in it, which appears to have been used to hold either a crown, a statue of a god, or a specific symbol. Its outer surface includes some inscriptions that depict the king in several scenes. It was discovered on the ground in two parts during the eighteenth century, then built and erected again in the city of Fayoum.

Siliyin Park
Located 9 km north of Fayoum city. the park is famous for its gardens and grain mills. It includes cafeterias and a panoramic hall.

Hawara Pyramid

The Hawara Pyramid was built using sun-dried bricks made from Nile clay and straw. When it was built, it was covered from the outside with limestone. The height of the pyramid was about 58 meters, and the length of each of its sides was about 100 meters. As for the entrance, it was on the southern side and led to a complex network of openings that reached the burial chamber, but this entrance is now closed. Labrant Palace: Attached to the southern side of the pyramid was the large funerary temple of Amenemhat, of which only a large area remains covered by fragments of stones, thin granite, and limestone columns. This is likely to be the famous labrant building which travelers spoke of with unlimited admiration. Strabo stated that the length of this building was about 200 meters and consisted of two floors, and that the number of rooms reached 1,500 rooms. In the ruins of this building, a wonderful statue of King Amenemhat III was found in the Egyptian Museum. discovered southeast of the pyramid in the tomb of Princess Neferoptah the remains of a small pyramid containing the body of Princess Neferoptah, the daughter of King Amenemhat III. In it, a large coffin of pink ranite, some silverware, and a wonderful collection of jewelry made of gold and semi-precious stones were found. The gem is currently preserved in the Egyptian Museum A cemetery of mummified crocodiles was found 500 meters northeast of the pyramid, which symbolizes the god Sobek, the god of the region. Among the most important things found in this cemetery were personal pictures that were drawn and colored and then placed on the faces of mummies, known as Fayoum pictures or Fayoum faces, which date back to the Greek and Roman eras.