From the Bab Djedid we return to the Place de la Kasba (p. [336]; tramway No. 2, see p. [330]).
In the Boulevard Bab-Benat, in an old Moslem cemetery on the right, is the Tekia (Pl. B, 4, 5), a home for the aged (1905). On the left, founded in 1876, is the Collège Sadiki (Pl. B, 4), a high school for Moslems. Farther on rises the handsome Palais de Justice (Pl. B, 4; 1901). These two buildings are in the neo-Moorish style.
We may now proceed direct to the Place Bab-Souika (see below; tramway No. 3, p. [330]); but it is better to take the less direct route through the N.W. part of the Medina, by the Rue du Lutteur (diverging to the right from Boul. Bab-Benat, a little before the Palais de Justice), Rue du Pacha (Pl. B, 4), Rue de la Hafsia (Pl. B, C, 4), Rue Achour (Pl. C, B, 4, 3; with the Hanefite Mosque of Sidi Mohammed Bey on the left), Rue el-Monastiri, and Rue Sidi-Mahrez.
On the left, in the last-named street, rises the *Mosque of Sidi Mahrez (Pl. B, 3), with several domes in the Turkish style, built in the latter half of the 17th cent., resembling in the interior the Ahmed Mosque of Constantinople (p. [550]). The square minaret was added early in the 19th century.—On the right is the school or Zaouïa Sidi Mahrez.
The picturesque Place Bab-Souika (Pl. B, C, 3) lies between the Medina and the poor Rebat Bab-Souika (p. [332]). Executions took place here in the Turkish period. The Rue el-Halfaouine (‘alfa street’), partly vaulted over, and lined with butchers’ shops, leads hence to the lively and industrious—
Place el-Halfaouine (Pl. B, 2), with its numerous Arab cafés, where on Mohammedan festivals, such as Ramadan (p. [447]) and Bairam, the evenings and nights are spent in mirth and frolic. On the W. side is the Djamâa Sahab et-Taba (Pl. B, 2), one of the largest mosques in Tunis, founded on blocks of stone from Carthage. The Souk el-Djedid on the N. side is for silk wares.
Time permitting, we may glance at the Rue des Potiers (Pl. C, 3), seat of the once noted pottery of Tunis, or at the Jewish Quarter (Hara; Pl. C, 3, 4), in the N.E. part of the Medina. The chief Synagogues (visitors admitted) are in the Impasse es-Snadli, at the corner of Rue Sidi-Mardoun, in Rue Zarkoun (Pl. C, D, 4), etc.
The interesting Old Jewish Cemetery (Pl. D, E, 3), just outside the old town, is entered from the Rue du Cimetière-Israélite.
c. Environs.
1. About 1¼ M. to the N. of Tunis lies the *Jardin du Belvédère, laid out in 1892, the most popular promenade in the environs, well shaded with palm-trees, but still unfinished. The grounds cover 250 acres on the slope of Belvedere Hill (269 ft.), which was fortified in the Turkish period. The chief entrance is at the Rond Point at the end of the Ave. de Paris (p. [333]; tramway No. 7, p. [330]), and there is a side-entrance (tramway No. 6) in the Ave. Carnot, near the Pépinière Municipale (nursery-ground) and the Cimetière Municipal (opened in 1883).