bout 150 people are crowded into the 19th-century church of Saint Augustin and Saint Fidèle in the Tunis suburb of La Goulette. More are gathered outside in the summer heat, behind the iron railings lining the narrow streets of Little Sicily, the neighbourhood where the fishing town's Italian migrants once settled and established themselves.
The crowds have come to see the first procession of the Assumption to be staged in the city since the tradition died out in the early 60s. In its heyday, the flower-decked statue of the Virgin of Trapani would be carried through the packed streets of La Goulette to the harbour where, alongside the area's Muslim and Jewish population, priests would bless the fishing boats and their crews.
In a region often defined by its sectarianism, Tunisia, despite its social tensions, remains a beacon of religious tolerance.
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