On the S. side of this square rises the Dâr el-Bey (Pl. B, C, 5), the largest pile of buildings in the Medina, erected in 1810 on the foundations of a Roman theatre(?) by Moroccan architects under Hamuda Bey as his town-palace. It is now the seat of the French secretary-general and other authorities. The Bey usually comes hither on Monday mornings from La Marsa (p. [351]) for the transaction of business. Admittance, see p. [331]. The entrance is by the portal where a sentry is posted.
The covered quadrangle (patio) on the first floor forms the centre of the palace. The fine timber ceiling in the dining-room is the only object of interest in the state apartments. The council-chamber of the ministers has a dome with remarkably fine stucco-work. Here, as in the Bardo and at Kassar-Saïd, the effect is marred by European gewgaws.
Fine *View from the flat roof over the white houses of the town, the Zitouna and many smaller mosques. Best light at and after noon.
To the W. of the Place de la Kasba, at the junction of the two upper boulevards Bab-Benat (Pl. B, 4; p. [337]) and Bab-Menara (Pl. B, C, 5, 6), the old town culminates in the Kasba (Pl. B, 5), an extensive group of barracks on the site of the palace of the Hafsides and the Turkish citadel. The Kasba Mosque, with its fine minaret, well restored in 1904, dates from 1231–5.
Near the old Bab-Menara, where the Souk des Sacs diverges to the reservoir of the waterworks (p. [339]), is the small Mosquée el-Ksar (Pl. C, 5), the oldest in Tunis, said to have been founded by Hassan ibn en-Nôman (p. [322]). The handsome minaret (1545) is an addition of the Turkish period.
On the N. side of the mosque runs the Rue du Château. No. 3 is the Division d’Occupation (Pl. C, 5), the seat of the French commandant, formerly the *Dâr-Hussein (18th cent.; well restored in 1876), one of the finest Mauro-Turkish palaces in Tunis. (Adm. by special introduction only.)
The Rue des Andalous (Pl. C, 5), which begins here, and its side-street Rue du Riche are the aristocratic streets of the Medina. Many of the houses have elegant marble portals and artistically grated windows. Parallel, on the E., leading to the Avenue de Bab-Djedid, runs the long Rue Tourbet el-Bey, in which at No. 62, at the corner of the Rue Sidi-Zamouhl, rises the Tourbet el-Bey (Pl. C, 6), the domed tomb of the Husseinites (p. [323]; ladies sometimes admitted).
The Rue Sidi Kassem, the next side-street on the left, leads to the Djamâa Djedid (‘new mosque’), or Mosquée des Teinturiers (Pl. C, 5, 6), founded by Hussein Ali ben-Turki (p. [323]). The modern minaret is by Si Slîmân Ennigro (p. [334]).
The open space near the dilapidated Bab Djedid (Pl. C, 6), dating from 1277, is an afternoon haunt of snake-charmers and story-tellers (5–10 c. to the boy soliciting money).
Between the Bab Djedid and the Place aux Chevaux (Pl. B, 6; p. [339]) is the Market Quarter of Rebat Bab-Djazira (p. [332]), containing the Souk el-Aâssar, the Souk des Armes, and the Marché-au-Blé.