Tunis City is located in the north of the country, about 140 km from Sousse, 270 km from Sfax, and 160 km from Kairouan. The city of Tunis is rich in many historical monuments that bear witness to the succession of civilizations.
Under the rule of the Mahdists and the Hafsids, who controlled it from the 12th to the 16th century, the city of Tunis was considered one of the most important and richest cities in the Islamic world. The city of Tunis includes 700 monuments of palaces, mosques, mausoleums, schools and water resources that testify to its ancient history among which the most remarkable are the Zitouna Mosque, the Kasbah Mosque, the Youssef Dey Mosque, the Bab Jedid Gate, the Bab Bhar Gate, the Souk el-Attarine, the Dar el-Bey, the Souk ech-Chaouachia, the Tourbet (family cemetery) el Bey, the patrician residences such as Dar Hussein, Dar Ben Abdallah, Dar Lasram, the Medrasa Es-Slimanya and El-Mouradia, the barracks of El Attarine and the Zaouia of Sidi Mehrez. Before Tunisia’s independence and on account of the geostrategic position of city, Tunis had been successively under the domination of the Numidians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Spaniards, Ottomans and French. With the advent of the Hafsid dynasty in 1229, the city was declared capital of Tunisia. Medley of all the civilizations that have lived through the 3000 years of history, modern Tunis is therefore a synthesis of this mixed heritage of Berber, Punic, Roman, Arab, Turkish, European, Black African, Jewish, Christian and Islamic cultures. Heritage sites, architecture, music, habits and customs, traditional clothing, cuisine, are all elements that carry the mark of this multicultural heritage. Thus, diversity is a characteristic of cultural identity of Tunis. The historic heart of Tunis is its medina.
