Publication Date
Around the year 1191 AH/1777 AD
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;tn;Mon01;12;ar
Library Location
Medina, Tourbat El Bey Street, Tunisia, Medina, Tunisia
Date
Around the year 1191 AH/1777 AD
Notes
The Al-Turbah Al-Bayyat cemetery contains the graves of fourteen Husseini rulers out of the nineteen, who ruled Tunisia from 1707 until 1957. The landmark also contains the remains of members of their families and some of the lucky ones among their ministers and loyal servants as well. The complex is organized around two courtyards connected to each other by a successive and complex group of domed halls, as a result of successive increases that were completed according to need. From the outside, the building imposes its prestige thanks to its façades of turquoise stones carved from sandstone containing ocher shell threads, which are regularly interrupted by square shoulders protruding from the wall. These square shoulders and surfaces resting on columns of light-colored stone, protruding from the ocher-coloured mass, include Italian embroidered floral decorative elements, carved in bas-relief. The current entrance door dates back to a late era, and leads to a first vestibule that precedes the second, more ancient door, which consists of a horseshoe-shaped arch, decorated with a multi-colored marble frame. After the second vestibule, one reaches the courtyard surrounded by arcades, where it is paved and its door frames Its windows, columns and capitals are all made of white marble imported from the city of Carrara in Italy. The largest western hall contains the massive graves of the beys of the throne, that is, those who actually ruled the country. The square, with its square plan, with a side length of 15 meters, and despite its small dimensions, resembles the plan of a classic Ottoman mosque. The large, slightly hump-shaped central dome was supported by four large criss-crossing buttresses. It rests on four semi-domes on the sides and on four small domes in the corners. The interior decoration also carefully blended Italian influence with local traditions. In fact, the lower parts of the jambs and walls, up to a height of two and a half metres, are covered with panels of polychrome marble, with the ocher and beige color dominating the upper parts of the walls, while the heads of the domes are covered with carved plaster. The tombs of the hall include thirteen bays, and they are covered with marble pieces richly decorated, consisting of bas-reliefs, representing decorations spanning a century and a half of time, and enabling the study of marble sculpture on both the stylistic and technical levels. On the opposite side of this hall, the Princesses Hall opens, which is a space covered with domes with corner triangles covered with carved plaster. On the walls there is a rich collection of squares, some of which are local, similar to the framed paintings in the mihrab of Al-Qalalin in Tunisia, and others imported from Italy and Spain. Three halls are organized around another courtyard dating back to the year 1299 AH / 1852 AD. But the hall occupying the southern side draws attention with its oval dome (18 x 5 metres); Its ceiling, covered with carved gypsum, includes very fine decorative elements, executed in prominent black on a smooth background. In addition to its architectural importance, this tomb provides one of the most important collections of funerary inscriptions. All the graves have monuments with a different date depending on whether the deceased was a man or a woman. The graves of women have a plaque engraved on one end of it, which is on the side of the head, while a headstone is placed on the graves of men, on the side of the head, crowned with a turban or fez carved from marble. The first form preceded the process of changing the dress approved by the Sublime Porte in 1828-1829, and it replaced the Western dress with the caftan, and replaced the turban with the fez or the chechia.
Sample Text
Mohamed Béji Ben Mami “Turbah El Bey” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;tn;Mon01;12;ar
