El Guettar, Tunisia

For the World War II battle, see Battle of El Guettar.
El Guettar
El Guettar is located in Tunisia
El Guettar
El Guettar
Location in Tunisia
Coordinates: 34°20′14″N 8°57′10″E / 34.33722°N 8.95278°E / 34.33722; 8.95278
Country Tunisia
GovernorateGafsa Governorate
Population
 (2014)
 • Total
14,088
Time zoneUTC1 (CET)

El Guettar (Arabic: القطار Al Qaṭār) is a town in central Tunisia in Gafsa Governorate. It is traditionally known for its pistachio nuts.

History

Hermanion of El Guettar, currently in the Bardo Natinonal Museum

In the 1950s, archaeologists found a crown of balls, 4,000 silex, mammal's teeth and bones of animals laid out near a dried up watering hole which is some 40,000 years old. Testimony of devotion with regard to a spirit of the waters, source of any life, and ruins which may constitute the oldest religious "building" known in the world (Hermaïon of El Guettar).[citation needed]

During World War II the town was the site of the Battle of El Guettar between American forces under George S. Patton, and elements of the German Afrika Korps led by general Jürgen von Arnim, as well as Italian forces led by General Giovanni Messe in early 1943. The battle was later dramatized in the 1970 war film Patton.

See also