The word Medina can refer to the 'old' city. In
Tunisia for example, most of the new parts of the
city were built by the
French following their occupation in
WW II. The older parts of the city referred to as the 'Medina' were
fortified sections which would include a
watchtower (used now as a calling tower for
prayer), the town centre (market stalls) and
Mosque. They were designed in such a way that you could live, fight, pray and die all in the same area. Smaller
prayer rooms would also be used as people
defending the city could not abondon their post on the walls or tower, to go to temple for prayer.
My personal experiences in these Medinas was definitely a good one, it really is like it looks like in Monty Pythons - The Life of Brian (apart from the clothes); incidentally the film was actually shot in Tunisia.
The market sellers are very, very keen to sell and are all over you like a rash, especially tourists (you just can’t help looking like one). One particular encounter started with "let me ask you one question, just one question". Before we knew it we were in his small shop talking about the price of a Ganja bong. All because I thought rouge meant red (in French it does; maybe he had a different meaning which meant "bong"), anyway two tanned leather camels latter we escaped.
People in Tunisia are in your face, but that is their way of life and how their culture is set up, once you get past the initial shock you can see it for what it is (friendly salesmanship) and start to enjoy the haggle.