Dar Othman is one of the palaces of the

medina of Tunis The Medina of Tunis is the medina quarter of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. The Medina contains some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains dating from ...

. The residence is located in the south of the medina, 16 El Mebazaâ Street.

History

Dar Othman was built in the end of the sixteenth century (around 1595) by Othman,

dey Dey (Arabic: داي), from the Turkish honorific title ''dayı'', literally meaning uncle, was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers (Algeria), Tripoli,Bertarelli (1929), p. 203. and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 o ...

of Tunis, who reigned from 1593 to 1610. During the first half of the 19th century, Al-Husayn II ibn Mahmud transformed it into a provision's house to store supplies for soldiers staying in barracks of the neighborhood. Thus, the palace is also called ''Dar Al Oula'' (provision's house). Afterwards, the residence was bequeathed by

Muhammad III as-Sadiq Muhammad III as-Sadiq ( ar, محمد الثالث الصادق; 7 February 1813 – 27 October 1882) commonly known as Sadok Bey ( ar, الصادق باي), was the Husainid Bey of Tunis from 1859 until his death. Invested as Bey al-Mahalla (He ...

to his grand vizier Mustapha Ben Ismaïl. In 1936, the palace got classified as an historical monument. It was first allocated to the National Institute of Archaeology and Art (known these days as the National Heritage Institute). Nowadays, it is the headquarters of the preservation of the medina of Tunis.

Description

The facade of the residence is composed of two lintels of arch-stone separated by a pointed

horseshoe arch The horseshoe arch (; Spanish: "arco de herradura"), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is an emblematic arch of Islamic architecture, especially Moorish architecture. Horseshoe arches can take rounded, pointed or lobed form. Hi ...

and a wooden pergola over the door. It also has two Andalusian style columns in the lower part and two

Hafsid The Hafsids ( ar, الحفصيون ) were a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. who ruled Ifriqiya (western ...

style columns in the upper part. The entrance door leads to a ''driba'' (square vestibule). The floor is paved with Kadhal flagstones. Walls are surrounded by stone benches. The ceiling, which rises in stages from bottom to top, is decorated with an Andalusian style stucco-work. The vestibule leads to the courtyard which has only two porticoes (unlike the majority of the medina's palaces which are surrounded by four porticoes). Four T-shaped rooms surround the courtyard. Each one of them contains two alcoves. Patio dar othman.jpg, dar othman Porte de dar othman (DSC00036).JPG, Entrance of dar othman Murs Dar Othman.JPG, facade of Dar Othman Cour Dar Othman.JPG, Court of Dar Othman Porte Dar Othman.JPG, A door at Dar Othman Décor Dar Othman.jpg, Decoration of Dar Othman شاهد قبر بدار عثمان.jpg, A tomb at dar Othman

Bibliography

References

External links

* {{coord, 36.7950, N, 10.1743, E, source:wikidata, display=title

Othman Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prop ...