DAR HUSSEIN

Place du château

This palace was rebuilt by Ismail Kahia, minister and son-in-law of Ali Bey (1758-1781) over the entire site of the 11th century " Ksar " (castle) of the Beni-Khorassan. At the beginning of the 19th century it was occupied by the famous Youssef Sahib et Tabaa minister of Hammouda Pasha.
After restoration, in 1858 it became home to the first municipal council presided over by General Hussein, from whence its name of "Dar el Achra" (house of the ten) which referred to the ten worthies who made up the council. In 1882 General Forgemol entered Tunis at the head of the French troops and decided to set up his quarters in the "town hall". Thus the palace became the French military headquarters. A square, the present place du château, built over the old cemetery, dates from then.
After independence was proclaimed, the palace was allocated to the National Museum of Archaeology and Art.
After going through two skifas, the visitor discovers an elegant pillared hall. The walls are covered with Kallaline ware alternating with panels of "mihrab" style ceramic with a vase. The neo-Corinthian capitals are obviously the work of Italian sculptors.
The classical arrangement of the alcoved room in the center flanked by "maksoura" is found here, in the four rooms around the courtyard. The fourth room springs fro the imagination of Youssef Sahib Et Tabaa and is a compact, almost square room which still has its traditional three alcoves. The roof is a paneled vault with an exuberant plaster décor depicting overflowing vases filled with flowers and swathes of foliage tumbling from them over all four panels of the main vault.