Tunisia
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Thirteen Centuries of Art and Architecture in Tunisia
Region: all of Tunisia
ITINERARY VI: The Towns of the Princes
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Raqqada and Mahdia constitute, alongside Sabra and al-'Abbassiya, the only Capitals in Tunisia to have been founded by princes between the arrival of Islam up to the present day. Their destinies differed, even though one was heir to the other, confirming the definite influence exerted by the geopolitical context on the evolution of Ifriqiyan princely towns in the Middle Ages. Raqqada was built in 262/876 by the Aghlabid Prince Ibrahim II, and was transformed into a holiday retreat equipped with grandiose hydraulic installations and luxurious palaces. It reflects the relative symbiosis that existed between the Aghlabid Dynasty and the Kairouanese population. In contrast to Raqqada, the founding of Mahdia marked a rupture between the reigning dynasty and the Ifriqiyans, but, simultaneously, it revealed the Fatimids' ambitious gaze eastward, and , after the Fatimid fleet imposed itself as the most powerful of the Mediterranean, it denoted the start of Tunisia's maritime age. |