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
A great stone obelisk was erected in honor of Senwosret I in Abgig during the 12th Dynasty. It was discovered on the ground in two pieces during the 18th century and was recently reconstructed and erected in the Fayoum City.

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 Pyramid of Hawara is constructed of sun dried bricks made from Nile mud with an admixture of straw, and with its original limestone casing had a base measurement of 106m. At the core of the pyramid was an outcrop of natural rock 12m high. The entrance (now blocked) was on the south side and gave access to a complicated network of passages leading to the burial chamber. To the north of the Pyramid of Hawara is a large cemetery in which the more prosperous citizens of Shedet Crocodilopolis were buried during the Middle Kingdom. Labyrinth palace: Adjoining the south side of the pyramid was Amenemhet's large mortuary temple, of which nothing is left but a large area covered with splinters of stone and fragments of finegraniteandlimestone columns. This structure was probably the famous Labyrinth, of which ancient travelers spoke with unbounded admiration. Princess Neferuptah's pyramid: In 1956 the remains of a small pyramid containing the Body of Princess Neferuptah, Amenemhetill's daughter, were discovered 2km south of the Hawara Pyramid. It was previously believed that she had been buried in a small sarcophagus found in her father's tomb chamber. To the east of the temple precinct are the remains of brick buildings belonging to a Roman village.