Tunisia
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Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia
Region: all of Tunisia
ITINERARY I: The Medina
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Description |
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The medina maintains and perpetuates a typically Islamic urban plan. At first, the expeditionary body sent on the mission of conquest, the futuhat, began by building a rampart around an area of land, usually one already occupied by the military camp. A mosque would be built at the centre of this outlined area, and would open out onto a large esplanade used for holding both markets, public meetings and military parades. The main roads, each reaching a gate within the rampart, would radiate out from this esplanade, and would thus divide the town into large neighbourhoods. Troops stationed under tents, grouped by kind, often in terms of ethnicity, occupied small islands within the town which were outlined by internal ringroads. Through being settled thus, the military camp had all the time it needed to establish a city: the island-camps transformed into housing complexes, and shops appeared around the esplanade. |