Place J’raba

Place J’raba, also commonly written Place Jraba, is a historic square in the medina of Kairouan, Tunisia. Situated near the centre of the old city between the traditional souks and the Great Mosque of Kairouan, the square has long formed part of the commercial and social life of the medina. It is particularly associated with textile production and the Souk Jraba, where generations of craftsmen worked as weavers, wool spinners and textile merchants. The area became known for the production of woollen fabrics, including material used for traditional garments and Kairouan’s celebrated carpets. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, however, the square and several surrounding buildings had deteriorated considerably. Place J’raba subsequently became the subject of a major RehabiMed conservation project carried out in cooperation with Tunisian heritage authorities, which restored façades, improved paving and public infrastructure and sought to revive the traditional workshops surrounding the square. The rehabilitation was completed around 2008–2009, meaning that the appearance of Place J’raba today differs noticeably from how it looked when it was used as a film location almost three decades earlier.

Place J’raba has appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Kairouan’s medina was extensively transformed into Cairo in 1936 for the film, with modern signs, television aerials and other contemporary elements removed or disguised. Place J’raba was used during the large marketplace attack on Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood and, most famously, provides the setting for Indiana’s confrontation with the flamboyant swordsman. The square is also visible during Marion’s struggle with one of the attackers, when she grabs a frying pan and uses it as an improvised weapon.

In Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Place J’raba appears during Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood’s chaotic flight through the streets and markets of Cairo after Nazi agents send local henchmen to capture them. Marion becomes separated from Indy during the attack and fights back against one of the men using a frying pan, with this part of the action filmed at Place J’raba. Moments later, Indy emerges into the square and is confronted by a large black-clad swordsman, played by British stunt performer Terry Richards. The swordsman theatrically spins and flourishes his scimitar as the crowd retreats and leaves the two men facing each other. Rather than accepting the challenge, an exhausted Indy simply draws his revolver, shoots the swordsman and continues searching for Marion. The scene had originally been conceived as a much longer fight in which Jones would defend himself with his bullwhip against the swordsman’s blade, and Richards had spent weeks preparing the choreography. By the time the sequence was filmed in Tunisia, however, Harrison Ford was suffering from dysentery and was in no condition to perform an extended fight. Ford and Steven Spielberg therefore reduced the confrontation to the single gunshot, unexpectedly creating one of the most famous comic moments in the Indiana Jones series. The historic square has been substantially rehabilitated since filming, but its shape and surrounding buildings still make it possible to recognise the location of the confrontation.

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