Médina of Tunis
The medina of Tunis in Tunisia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It contains around 700 monuments such as palaces, mosques and madrasas from the Almohad and the Hafsid periods. Most famous buildings are the Great Mosque, Aghlabid Ez-Zitouna Mosque and the Dar-al-Bey, a Palace built in various styles of architecture and decoration from different periods.
The medina covers an area of 270 hectares and has a social sectorization. El Bey Tourbet and the Kasbah district are aristocratic parts, while the streets of Pacha often being military and bourgeois sectors.
Tunis became the capital of a powerful kingdom during the Hafsid era, and was a religious, intellectual and economic center for the Middle East, Africa and Europe. A great fusion of influences can be seen in architecture, as there are Andalusian styles mixed with eastern influences, Roman columns and typical Arab architecture. Some houses date back to the Middle Ages, but most of the expensive houses were build between the 17th and 19th centuries.
Unlike other cities like Algiers, the historical part of Tunis has never suffered from major natural disasters and therefore, the Medina is one of the best preserved urban locations in the Arab world.