VISA & TOURISM > Tourist Attractions

During your stay in Monastir, take the time to discover some of the city's monuments. Here is a selection:

The ribat and the Museum of Islamic Arts: according to a legend, you reached paradise (just that!) if you had garrisoned there for 3 days. Founded in 796, the original ribat, already fortified, was subsequently surrounded by other thick ramparts. It was carefully restored in 1970 and served as a filming location for several films, notably the famous A quarter to two before Jesus Christ by Jean Yanne, in 1982. The whole mixes different architectural styles: stairs, narrow passages, surrounding wall, defenders' housing, women's ribat, octagonal towers... not one of these structures resembles another, not a shadow of symmetry between all these elements. In the courtyard, bordered on 3 sides by 2 or 3 floors of cells, stands the nador, the round watchtower of the warrior monks. You can climb the 87 steps to enjoy a beautiful view of the whole area and the surrounding area. Finally, the Museum of Islamic Arts is installed above the old oratory, known as the women's ribat. There we find woodwork from the minbar of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, fragments of steles and manuscripts in Kufic script, ceramics, illuminations, coins, old fabrics and miniatures;

The Habib-Bourguiba museum: a museum dedicated to the father of independence and former president, a native of Monastir, was missing. It’s done, within the former presidential palace, what’s more. Built in 1962, it was used as a summer residence until 1987 by the former head of state. It is characterized by a modern style compared to the standards of the time. On the ground floor, the presidential car and an exhibition of photos of the Tunisian president in the company of statesmen. Upstairs, left intact and without any particular fittings, we visit the imposing reception room decorated by Maxime Old, a renowned architect-decorator, the vast dining room, decorated with margoum tapestries (in wool) from the region of Gafsa, the president's bedroom and that of his wife Wassila, both with lacquered walls, separated by a shared bathroom with a marble bathtub cut from a single block and gold leaf doors. Then the presidential office with some personal items. On the 2nd floor, the suite of Hajer, the adopted daughter of the Bourguiba couple. Despite the lack of information, the visit to this small marble palace with its charm and sixties decor proves fascinating, as much as its immersion in a place steeped in history;

The Great Mosque: it dates from the 9th century and was enlarged in the 11th century by the Zirids. But it is poorly named because, in reality, it is smaller than the Bourguiba mosque. Inside, some of the columns rest on antique capitals;

The Bourguiba mausoleum: the place for the construction of the Bourguiba mausoleum was not chosen at random, it was erected at the end of a solemn alley, on the exact location of the grave of the parents of the “Father of the Nation ". It is a symmetrical construction, flanked by two 25 m minarets. Above the golden dome rests the president. Construction lasted more than 20 years and the finest materials were used: olive wood, marble, fine gold... In an adjacent room, the personal effects of the “Supreme Fighter” are exhibited in a reconstruction of his office;

The cemetery of Sidi el-Mézeri: between the mausoleum and the ribat extends a vast cemetery, partly cut away by urbanization and the road along the corniche. President Bourguiba, by wanting to enrich his hometown, contributed greatly to the destruction of its old neighborhoods. It is said that a third of the medina was destroyed in the 1960s. Preceding the cemetery, 2 octagonal buildings, including the monument to the Seven Resistance Martyrs.