The Medina of Tunis is the old city area of Tunis, which is the capital city of Tunisia. It has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.

The Medina includes about 700 monuments, such as palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas, and fountains from different time periods.

History

The Medina of Tunis was founded in 698 near the Zitouna Mosque. It grew over many centuries during the Middle Ages. The main road connected the mosque to the government center in the kasbah to the west. This same road continued east to the Bab el Bhar. Expansions to the north and south created two suburbs: Bab Souika to the north and Bab El Jazira to the south.

Before the Almohad Caliphate, other cities like Mahdia and Kairouan were capitals. Under Almohad rule, Tunis became the capital of Ifriqiya. During the Hafsid period, Tunis became a religious, intellectual, and economic center. It was during this time that the Medina took on its essential form. Over time, the Medina gained buildings and monuments that mixed styles from Ifriqiya, Andalusia, and the East. Some of these structures also included columns and capitals from Roman and Byzantine monuments.

Social and urban structure

The Medina covers 270 hectares (670 acres) and includes an additional 29 hectares (72 acres) for the kasbah district. It is home to nearly 110,000 people, which is one-tenth of Tunis's population and a sixth of the city's developed area.

The complex layout of the Medina led to many writings by colonists who described it as dangerous, chaotic, and full of hidden dangers. However, studies since the 1930s showed that the city’s areas are organized based on social and cultural rules. These rules are connected to how people live and interact. Many books have explained how the Medina’s design separates public and private spaces, homes and businesses, and religious and non-religious areas.

The city’s layout does not follow straight lines or formal patterns. However, major roads run north-south and east-west, similar to Roman roads called cardo and decumanus (such as Sidi Ben Arous, Jemaa Zitouna, and Pasha Streets). These roads meet at the Zitouna Mosque, a place of worship and learning. The streets include main roads, smaller roads, and narrow dead-end paths. Some areas are set aside for women only. The city is built with large plots (600 square meters) and shared ownership.

In the Medina, the idea of public space is unclear. Streets are often seen as extensions of homes and are influenced by social traditions. Ownership of land is not strongly defined, and shops in markets often spill into the streets. This is shown by the size of shop spaces (about 3 square meters) and bedrooms (10 square meters).

In homes, buildings that are farther from shops are more valuable. Privacy and separation from public life are important. Because the sewer system was added later, wastewater still flows through the streets. The largest and most respected homes are usually in the Kasbah quarter, which is on higher ground. Roof terraces are also important for social activities, as shown in the film Halfaouine by Férid Boughedir.

Today, each area of the Medina keeps its traditions. Rivalries exist, such as between the northern suburb, which supports the football team Espérance Sportive de Tunis, and the southern area, which supports the rival team Club Africain. The Medina has also seen social divisions: wealthier areas like Tourbet el Bey and the Kasbah are home to judges and politicians. Pasha Street is where military and wealthy merchants live. Smaller areas, like Hafisa, have historically been home to Jewish communities.

Architecture

The Muradid dynasty was known for its important contributions to the Medina. Hammouda Pasha, who lived from 1631 to 1666, built many markets, palaces, and other buildings in the Medina. These included the Dar Hammouda Pacha and the earlier version of the modern Dar El Bey. In 1655, he hired Ottoman architects to design the Hammouda Pacha Mosque in the Turkish style. This mosque has an elegant octagonal minaret, and below it, he built a family mausoleum. His son, Murad II Bey, who ruled from 1666 to 1675, constructed the Mouradia Madrasah, which was dedicated to the Maliki school of Islamic law. Murad’s son, Mohamed Bey El Mouradi, who ruled from 1686 to 1696, built several monuments in Tunis, including the Sidi Mahrez Mosque. This mosque was modeled after those in Istanbul and featured a large central dome.

Ali II ibn Hussein, a Husainid ruler who ruled from 1759 to 1782, built the Tourbet el Bey in the southern part of the Medina. This structure served as a family mausoleum and is the largest funerary monument in Tunis.

During the time of Muhammad III as-Sadiq, who ruled from 1859 to 1882, the walls of the Medina were in very poor condition and risked collapsing. In 1865, he began tearing down the walls and several historic gates, including Bab Cartagena, Bab Souika, Bab Bnet, and Bab El Jazira.

• Dar Lasram
• Dar Al Jaziri
• Dar Bach Hamba
• Dar Ben Ayed

• Close-up on a traditional door of the Medina
• Vestibule of Dar Othman

Landmarks

Out of the original four gates, two remain today: the Bab el Bhar in the east and the Bab Sidi Kacem, which is part of the Kasbah Fortress in the south-west. The other two gates, located at the northern entrances, were called Bab Sidi Abdallah Cherif and Bab El Allouj.

• Bab el Bhar
• Bab Sidi Kacem
• Bab El Allouj

During the Hafsid era, madrasas began to appear in the medina of Tunis, designed in the style of the Arab Orient. These schools were created to support the Almohads by training workers for public services. The Hafsid sultans helped establish these madrasas, and princesses, scholars, and imams also contributed to their development. These schools connected students to their patrons. After Tunisia became part of the Ottoman Empire, the madrasas continued to be built, but their purpose changed over time. Starting in the 17th century, the Ottomans used these schools to spread their Hanafi religious tradition. By the 20th century, most madrasas were mainly used to house students studying at Ez-Zitouna University.

The medina contains many of the capital’s major mosques, all of which were built before the French protectorate.

The main Zitouna Mosque was originally built in 732 in the center of the medina and later rebuilt in 864. For many years, it was an important center of learning and culture, serving as the home of Zitouna University until Tunisia gained independence. Today, it still hosts ceremonies for major Muslim holidays, which are regularly attended by the President of the Republic.

The Kasbah Mosque, constructed between 1231 and 1235, was the second mosque built in the medina. It was intended for use by the rulers who lived nearby in the Kasbah. This mosque is known for its dome with stalactite designs near the mihrab and its minaret, which resembles the one at the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech and is the tallest in the medina.

The Ksar Mosque, associated with the Hanafi religious tradition, is located opposite the Dar Hussein (Bab Menara) and was built in the 12th century during the Khurasanid dynasty.

The Youssef Dey Mosque was first used as an oratory and later became a mosque in 1631. It is the first mosque built during the Ottoman-Turkish period. The Hammouda-Pacha Mosque, built in 1655, was the second Hanafi-style mosque in Tunis. The Sidi Mahrez Mosque is the largest Hanafi-style mosque in the country. It was built from 1692 to 1697 and is inspired by Ottoman architecture, similar to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul (built between 1609 and 1616) and the Yeni Valide Mosque (completed in 1663). The El Jedid Mosque, constructed by Hussein the Ist Bey, founder of the Hussein dynasty, between 1723 and 1727, has an octagonal minaret inspired by Ottoman design, like the Youssef Dey and Hammouda-Pacha mosques.

The Saheb Ettabaâ Mosque, built between 1808 and 1814, was the last mosque constructed in Tunis by the Husseinites before the French occupation.

• Al-Zaytuna Mosque
• Zitouna Mosque Court
• El Ksar Mosque (12th century, with its minaret built in the 17th century)
• Youssef Dey Mosque (First half of the 17th century)
• Prayer room of the Sidi Mahrez Mosque (End of the 17th century)
• View of the Saheb Ettabaâ Mosque (Beginning of the 19th century)

Palaces, known as Dars, are among the most important historical buildings in the ancient city of Tunis. These structures were homes for politicians, wealthy individuals, and city dignitaries.

• Dar Lasram
• Dar Ben Achour
• Dar Al Jaziri

Climate change

Medina of Tunis is a coastal heritage site that is at risk from rising sea levels. In 2022, the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report listed it among African cultural sites that could face flooding and coastal erosion by the end of the century. This risk applies only if climate change follows a specific scenario called RCP 8.5, which involves very high levels of greenhouse gases that cause temperatures to rise over 4°C. However, this scenario is now seen as unlikely. Other, more likely scenarios lead to less warming and slower sea level rise. Still, sea levels will continue to rise for about 10,000 years in all cases. Even if warming is limited to 1.5°C, global sea levels could rise more than 2–3 meters (7–10 feet) after 2000 years. This increase would surpass the sea level rise expected by 2100 under the RCP 8.5 scenario (about 0.75 meters (2 feet), with a range of 0.5 to 1 meter (2 to 3 feet)) long before the year 4000. Without strong measures, such as building sea walls, damage to Medina of Tunis is inevitable over time.