Wikimania 2015 bids/Monastir

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Monastir Sciences Palace is a public non-administrative establishment with an area of 5470 square metres...

The science palace occupies an area of 5470 square metres, consisting of

• A conference room having a circular shape and an Annex, rectangular in a shape connected by a partially-covered gallery.

The congress hall and the gallery cover an area of 2474m 2 equipped to organize congresses and scientific as well as cultural events. This room is fully air-conditioned. It has a capacity of 850 places, 3 commission rooms, simultaneous translation cabinets, projection equipments, and a fully-developed sound system.

• The annex is a breakdown of 2 levels having an overall area of 1600m 2. It includes:
  • A videoconference room of 150 seats
  • Six rooms for training and commissions work of 35 seats
  • Other rooms used for various purposes (A "Braille" room , a virtual university room, a digital studio, a language lab,a Library and a digital crossroad)

All these spaces are equipped WiFi hot-spots.

Monastir Science Palace is located in the very heart of the town of Monastir. It is Located in Avenue Farhat Hached in front of the municipality and 100 metres from the governorate of Monastir. The palace is next to the old city known as "La Medina". Venue map: http://www.psm.rnu.tn/anglais/index.php?page=acces_carte

Welcome to Monatir where you will have your fill of blue sky and sunshine, where you will find extraordinary heritage and original traditions, where you will enjoy twinkling sea. Monastir is a touristic city in the East coast ot Tunisia. It has many fine hotels and restaurants. It has also many colleges part of the University of Monastir.

Monastir enjoys a dry Mediterranean climate with hot summers, extremely mild winters, lots of sunshine and low rainfall year round. The city sits in the northeast of Tunisia on its central coast. It is much hotter than the Mediterranean resorts on the European coast, but much milder than inland areas of Tunisia, forty percent of which is part of the Sahara. Summer, from June till September, is absolutely sweltering. If you spend too long outside you’ll find yourself melted to the spot or wilting in the shade. While humidity is low, the soaring heat can still be hard to handle. The average high temperature of 29°C in June skips past the 30°C mark in the middle of the month and climbs up to 33°C for July and August.

Tunisians are willing to learn foreign languages. Tourists usually don't find problems communicating with Tunisians. Arabic is the native language. French is spoken fluently by almost all Tunisians and it is often used in many fields (press, radios and all road signs). English is the third spoken language in Tunisia and it's well spoken especially in tourism areas.

Appreciated by connoisseurs, Tunisian cuisine owes its variety to the richess of its soil and the contributions of different traditions: Jewish, Turkish, Italian... A sunny cuisine where lamb mixes with sea bream and grouper, where almonds blend with peppers and rosebuds, and where olive oil is combined with carefully selected spices. The celebrated couscous can be cooked in countless different ways: with fish, dried meat, meatballs, stuffed squid... A crispy hors-d'oeuvre and delicious almond patisseries are made from filo pastry, bequeathed by Turks. The meal is accompanied with the traditional mint tea accompanied by sweets. Restaurants are classed "toursit restaurant" with a rating of between 1 and 3 forks. Here are the list of the most known restaurants in Monastir:

• la réserve
• Pirate
• Elhamra

Monastir's star attraction is its preserved ribat complex, considered as the country's finest example of Islamic military architecture. Its seemingly chaotic design with labyrinthine passageways and staircases is a legacy of the ribat's many periods of construction and renovation. The consequence is an evocative structure devoid of any uniformity. The original ribat occupied only the central courtyard and museum area and was built in AD 796. The current shape was established by the Aghalibids at the end of the 9th century and completed in the 11th century. There are panoramic views of the town and the coast line from the ramparts.

Monastir's medina was largely demolished after independence in an ill-considered rush to modernise the town in keeping with its status as the birthplace of the president. thankfully the ribat survived , a did the great Mosque. Built in the 9th century, it's severe Aghlabid creation, apart from the graceful hordeshoe arches at the northern end. the Roman columns suporting these arches and thoe of the prayer hall( closed to non-Muslims) were salvaged from the ruins of ancient Ruspina. the walls in the western part of the medina remain largely intact and are the dotted with some interesting old gates. the finest is Bab el-Gharbi, at the centre of the western wall. it was built by the Hafsids in the 15th century. Bab Tnuis, in the northwestern corner , was built in 1780 while the main southern gate, Bab Briqcha, was built by the Ottomans at the end of tha 17th century. the Costume Museum is around the corner from the tourist office and worth a quick look.

• place 3 aout
• houmat trabelsia (medina)
• sidi el mazeri

The visitors to Monastir should not leave without visiting the mausoleum of Habib Bourguiba and his family. The mausoleum could be reached via a paved walkway, the gold and green cupolas are very attractive for new comers. The marble courtyard, green-tiled arches and elegant eastern doors are superb. The mausoleum houses tombs of the family and a small display of items that belonged to the first present of the Tunisia. The admission is free of charge and it is open from Monday to Saturday. If the main gate is occasionally closed, visitors can walk around the fence to the next small gate on the northern side.

--- To be translated to English-- La marina aux modernes installations offre aux regards admiratifs ses enormes yachts, palaces flottants et fuselés. Petit port moderne installé en contrebas de la corniche, au nord-est du centre, elle ne diffère en rien d'une station méditerranienne: des cafés, restaurants, glaciers-bars à cocktails, boutiques dans une architecture beauycoup plus "azurenne" que tunisiennne. Le site comprend également un hammam à l'ouest. De la jetée, on peut apércevoir l'île aux Pigeon et deviner les grottes marines d'El khalia.

• Costume Museum: Shows the old clothes wear by Tunisnas; For men: the jebba a full tunic, the burnous of camel her, the chechia (a red felt cap)... For women: the draped red garment, the melia, the white silk safsari...
• Museum of Islamic Art: It contains a collection of early Arab coins, pottery, old maps and photos of Monastir city...

The infrastructure of hotels is of a remarkable quality and continues to get even better. Classed hotels(from one to five stars) are beyond reproach for hygiene and facilities. Covered swimming pools, sporting facilities, mini-clubs for children and spa centres are very common. It is also worth nothing their architecture inspired by traditional towns and their immaculate decor. In Monastir you will have a range of choices of everything between luxury hotels and simple hotels.

• Amir Place
• Delphin Abib
• One resort Monastir
• Sentido Rosa Beach
• Royal Thalassa Monastir
• Sahara Beach
• Ramada Liberty Resort Hotel
• Skanes Serail

Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport is among the first 20 busiest airports in Africa. The airport activity is mainly due to the movement of tourists coming to visit Monastir, Sousse and the surrounding resorts (Monastir-Skanes and Port El Kantaoui in particular). Almost all charter flights are concentrated during the tourist season. The airport is located at Skanes, 9km fare from the city center. The trip by taxi costs about 5 TD (3.5 $). Getting to the airport is also possible through train between monastir and sousse, since the train station "Airport" is only 200 meters from airport terminal. Visit airport website for further info: http://www.habibbourguibaairport.com/en-EN/Pages/Main.aspx

Getting acces to Monastir is easy by bus, the bus station is located at the western edge of the medina.There is a bus every 20 minutes leaving from bus station located in bab bhar sousse. 2 bus 52A and 52B

You can reach Monastir by Train from Tunis.Trains take off 3 times a day, one in 8:30 am, the second in 13:35 pm and the last one 17:50pm Also if you are in Sousse there is fast metro from Bab Ejdid Station to H.Bourguiba Station evey half hour.

Living cost in Tunisia is not really high.As a result,you can enjoy your time here without paying too much money

Visitors to Tunisia must obtain a visa from one of the Tunisian diplomatic missions unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries or are eligible for a visa on arrival.

Citizens of the following 72 countries and territories can visit Tunisia for up to 90 days (unless otherwise stated) without a visa:

Citizens of the following 2 countries may obtain a visa valid for up to 1 month on arrival:

• Australia
• South Africa

Citizens of the following 16 countries may enter Tunisia without a visa, provided travelling on a tour organised by a travel agency and holding hotel voucher:

• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Georgia
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Moldova
• Russia
• Slovakia
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Ukraine
• Uzbekistan

The citizens of the remaining countries require visa to enter the Tunisian territories.

A this time the community of wikimedia in tunisia is not big, so we are struggling to expand our activities through the help of non profit organizations like JCI-ENIT and C-Libre. Bidding to Wikimania would increase active members and lead towards creating a Tunisian Chapter of Wikimedia. The following table shows up the involved members throughout all the bidding process:

Event	Date	Flyer	Participants
Preliminary meetings: Agreements about the venue, listing of support entities, discussing the bidding process, etc.	30-Dec-13 04-Jan-14 28-Jan-14	Vivaystn (talk · contribs) Ghabara (talk · contribs) Mounir (talk · contribs) Nizarus (talk · contribs) Maher Amara (talk · contribs) Yasser (talk · contribs) Maher Amara (talk · contribs) Hamedgamaoun (talk · contribs) Mouadh (talk · contribs) Faiza (talk · contribs) Maroua (talk · contribs) Imen Oussama Abderrahmen Najet Boulbeba Khaoula
Management Workshop Feasibility study and SWOT analysis of an Wikimania Monastir 2015	01-Fev-14		Vivaystn (talk · contribs) Mounir (talk · contribs) Mouadh (talk · contribs) Hamedgamaoun (talk · contribs) Maher Amara (talk · contribs) Dora (talk · contribs) Faiza (talk · contribs) Maroua (talk · contribs) Yasser (talk · contribs) Sami Benzid (talk · contribs),
Editing Workshop: Edit Wikimania Monastir 2015 bid page	15-Fev		Mounir (talk · contribs) Sirine (talk · contribs) Maroua (talk · contribs) Vivaystn (talk · contribs) Abir (talk · contribs) Hamedgamaoun (talk · contribs)
Language Workshop: Improve grammar, style and vocabulary of Wikimania Monastir 2015 bid request	23-Fev
A two days trip to Monastir and a Workshop for editing its Wikivoyage page	8-March

Insert your name below if you are intending to help as online team:

1. ...

Strengths	Weaknesses
Strategic geographical location(Near to Europe, Africa, Asia) Favorable climate Monastir is a Touristical destination Good auditorium capacity Multipule culture and 3 spoken languages Most countries don't need VISA Affordable living costs(transport, food, accomodation) Engaged team working Monastir is near to the most interesting places to visit in Tunisia(Sahara, historical sites..) Traveling to Tunisia isn't expensive Support of local NGO(JCI ENIT, CLibre) Experience in International event organization (Word Social Forum Tunis 2013, Word Congres of JCI)	Workshop rooms capacity(35 person) Small Tunisian Wikimedia community
Opportunities	Threats
Tunisian Wikimedia community is increasing Going forward political and econmical stability High percentage of youth Discovering Tunisia after its successful revolution Spreading sharing spirit Last Wikimania organized in Africa was in 2008	Difficulties to gather great amount of funds Some other good bids for Wikimania 2015

Signed letters from organizations that could support the conference. Proposed:

• Unité des Logiciels Libres, Ministère des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication
• Mayor of Monastir
• Ministère du trourisme

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• Wikimania 2015 bids