About Us | Brief History Of Our Tunisian Tiles
Located in exotic Nabeul, Tunisia, our tiles come directly from the manufacturer in Africa's northernmost cape, the southern Mediterranean countryside. Our tiles are individually handcrafted, fired, glazed and fired again to resist cracks, scratches and breakage just as they’ve been for centuries. It is an honor to offer products of a timeless trade which has been in demand from neighboring countries like Spain, Italy, Greece and France as well as from the orient consistently and throughout history. It is true, tiles never go out of style!
Where do our accent & border designs & colors originate? The many patterns and colors we offer are authentic to different regions of the world. The colors and designs reflect the influence of our neighbors from the north, south, east and west. For example, you can see a French influence in our Faiza design, Italian influence in our Dorra design and East Indian flare in our Flowery Turquoise design. Not only are global taste differences evident but you will also see heavy religious overtones such as in our Islamic mosaics in beautifully written Arabic lettering and in our Hamida design. You can see an evolution of many diverse cultural and religious contributions through the designs we offer.
Interested in more tile history? As mentioned, our warehouse is located in the ceramic capital city of Nabeul, Tunisia and is home of ancient Greek battlefields of the 5th century. Also known as the twin sister of Naples, Italy (Neopolis, or New City), Nabeul has an ideal strategic location for trade on the central coast of the Mediterranean. The diversity of Tunisia’s agricultural industries has enticed a massive influx of immigrants who brought an unrivaled know-how in crop development as well as in several manufacturing industries not limited to ceramics.
Known since the Greek and Roman eras for pottery made out of the finest terracotta, Nabeul has developed a more diversified quality of ceramics. With the arrival of Islam to the region and by shifting styles to the newly sought-after Persian designs, these tiles are revered for use in mosques, palaces and many other places of worship and reverence.
Nabeul has been known to have gone through three major stages in its optimization of technique and ceramic production. First, Nabeul's pottery showed a strong developmental phase following the influence of the Renaissance, which is commonly known to have piqued manufacturing for Italy during the 14th century.
In the second major phase, Muslims, primarily from Andalusia, Spain in the 15th century were ousted by the Catholic Church during the Spanish conquest. Refugees fled and settled in the region of Nabeul where these family-owned companies with origins from Andalusia, Spain still supply 80% of overall Tunisian ceramic production to this day.
The last major influence on Nabeul’s pottery production took place during the French Protectorate in the 19th & 20th centuries where the supply diversified to building materials, hardware (bathroom and kitchen decor), decorative (ceramic murals and mosaic tiles), kitchenware products (dinnerware and tea sets) that are still made today as the demand continues to grow.
The increasing number of tourists visiting the region has contributed greatly to the growth of pottery production. Today, visitors solicit artisans to come up with designs that meet their modern tastes. Local authorities have recently brought it upon themselves to finance networks of schools to teach the importance and precise art of the pottery and ceramics industry. This in effect boosts supply and supports meeting the international demand.
Many of Nabeul's largest import relationships continue from Italy, Malta, France, Greece, Spain, UK, Germany, Belgium, Argentina, Australia, Canada and now in recent years, The United States.
Nabeul Tiles, They’re The Real Deal!