it can also be seen in white or grey. Cylindrical in shape, the chechia was imported into Tunisia in its current form from Spain, by the Moors, expelled after the capture of Granada in 1492. Finding in Tunisia a second homeland, they established the craft of the chechia there. Its manufacture is quickly considered a refined art and responds to strict traditions. The archives of the Spanish consulate to the Beylik of Tunis at the end of the 18th century show that Spain was interested in the manufacture of chechias, the secret of which it lost when the Moriscos were expelled at the beginning of the 17th century and that the Spanish government would like to recover to relaunch its production in Spain in state factories,. In Tunisia, anyone wishing to engage in this particular craft must first pass a thorough examination before a designated committee of craftsmen. Made by skilled "chaouachis", the chechia soon occupied the entire souks, built in 1691 in the Medina of Tunis, so great was its success, which gave work to thousands of people. From the 1920s, Tunisian separatists increasingly wore the chechia testouriya (originally from the city of Testour) because its name was close to that of their party the Destour. Crafts in crisis After Tunisia's independence in 1956, with the arrival of manufactures and customs from Europe, the wearing of the chechia tended to be limited to holidays and religious festivals; it is often associated with elderly people. Manufacturers' incomes were affected and many were forced to give up this craft. Moreover, people living in the countryside tend to abandon this traditional headgear in favor of its less expensive and industrially manufactured equivalents. The absence of a coherent government program contributes to this decline in the eyes of traditionalists. Moreover, many specialists attribute the decline of this craft to the manufacturers themselves, who lacked creativity and innovation. However, at the end of the 1990s, in an effort to revitalize this industry, many artisans began to manufacture new varieties of chechias in different colors, shapes and decorations, in order to attract a younger clientele. However, very quickly, this momentum wanes as exports of the Tunisian chechia to African countries also run out of steam. However, official figures given in 2007 by the Tunisian Bureau of Traditional Industries indicate that 80% of chechias are exported to Algeria, Libya and Nigeria, but also throughout the Near