Dar El Bey

Coordinates: 36°47′52″N 10°10′09″E / 36.797753°N 10.169065°E / 36.797753; 10.169065

Dar El Bey

Dar El Bey (Arabic: دارالباي‎), also known as the government palace (Arabic: قصر الحكومة‎) is an old palace in the medina of Tunis. Nowadays, it serves as the office of the Head of Government of Tunisia.

History

The palace was built in the 17th century during the reign of the Muradid Bey Hammuda Pasha Bey. In 1795 the Husainid Bey Hammuda Ibn Ali added another floor to it. Henri Dunant considers it as «the most beautiful moorish royal house in the world».[1]

It became the main office for the Head of the Tunisian government even before the independence. Mustapha Kaak was the first to fill that position.

Architecture

The palace's decoration is very rich and diverse: the rooms were designed by Tunisian, Spanish and Moroccan artists. These rooms are distinguished by their special rooftops highly decorated with painted scenes and precious materials.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Henri Dunant, Notice sur la régence de Tunis, Genève, Imprimerie de Jules-Guillaume Fick, 1858, 261 p. (lire en ligne [archive]), p. 47
  2. ↑ Henri Saladin, Tunis et Kairouan, Paris, Henri Laurens, coll. « Les Villes d'art célèbres », 1908, p. 52-53
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