Part 50

=Motor Cars.= _Auto-Palace_, Rue d’Autriche Prolongée 3; _Garage Peyrard_, Rue de Belgique 10; _Tunisienne Automobile_, Rue de Grèce.

=Tramways= (fares by zones, from 5 c. upwards; also transfer-tickets), from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.: =1.= _Porte de France_ (Pl. D, 4), Ave. Jules-Ferry (Pl. E, 4), Ave. du Port, _Harbour_.—=2.= _Porte de France_, Rue al-Djazira (Pl. D, 5, 6), Ave. Bab-Djedid (Pl. D, C, 6), _Place de la Kasba_ (Pl. B, 5).—=3.= _Porte de France_, Rue des Maltais (Pl. D, 4), Place Bab-Souika (Pl. B, C, 3), _Kasba_.—=4.= _Rue al-Djazira_ (Rue d’Algérie; Pl. D, 6), Rue es-Sadikia (Pl. D, 5; Gare du Sud), Rue de Rome (Pl. D, 4), Ave. de Paris (Pl. E, 4, 3), Place Bab-Souika, _Bab Bou-Saâdoun_ (Pl. A, 2).—=5.= _Place Bab-Souika_ (Pl. B, C, 3), Bab Bou-Saâdoun, _Bardo_ (p. 339; every ¼ hr., 15 c.), _La Manouba_ (p. 342; every ½ hr., 30 c.).—=6.= _Porte de France_, Rue des Maltais (Pl. D, 4), Bab el-Khadra (Pl. C, 2), Cimetière Municipal, _Belvedere Park_ (p. 338; Ave. Carnot, 15 c.).—=7.= _Rue de Rome_ (Pl. D, 4), Ave. de Paris (Pl. E, 4–2), _Belvedere Park_ (Rond-Point; every 10 or 15 min., 15 c.; on week-days there and back 25 c.), _Ariana_ (p. 338; every ½ hr., 30 c.).—=8.= _Ave. de France_ (Pl. D, 4), Ave. de Carthage (Pl. E, 5–7), Bab Alleoua (Pl. E, 7), _Abattoirs_ (to the S. of Pl. E, 7).—For the electric tramways to _Carthage_ and _La Marsa_, see p. 343.

=Post & Telegraph Office= (Pl. D, 5), Rue d’Italie 30; branches on the quay and in the Place Bab-Souika.

=Steamboat Agents.= For the _Comp. Gén. Transatlantique_ (RR. 21, 22), Banque de Tunisie, Rue es-Sadikia 3, and on the Quai Ouest; for the _Società Nazionale_ (RR. 25, 26, 64), Florio, Rue d’Alger 1; for the _Comp. de Navigation Mixte_ (RR. 21, 26, 64), Ave. Jules-Ferry and Quai Ouest; for the _Hamburg-American Line_, the _Hungarian Adria_, and the _German Levant Line_, Siebert & Co., Rue d’Italie 5bis; for the _North German Lloyd_, Heckmann, see below.

=Tourist Offices.= _Eisen_ (travel and sport), Rue Léon-Roches 6; _König & Co._, Rue es-Sadikia; _Pernull & Myddleton_, Ave. Jules-Ferry 39; _R. Heckmann_ (Universal Tourist Office), Ave. de Carthage, opposite Tunisia Palace Hotel; _Lubin_, Ave. de France 5.—_Comité d’Hivernage_, Ave. de Carthage 8.

=Consuls.= British Consul-General, _E. J. L. Berkeley_, Place de la Bourse (Pl. D, 4); vice-consuls, _Chas. A. Goodwin_, _R. Schembri_.—U. S. Vice-Consul, _A. J. Proux_, Ave. de France.

=Physicians.= _Dr. Domela_, Ave. Jules-Ferry 72; _Dr. Valetta_, Rue d’Espagne; _Dr. Zammit_, Rue Amilcar (all three speak English); _Dr. Jaeggy_, Rue d’Autriche; _Mlle. Dr. Gordon_, Rue de Rome 18.—CHEMIST. _Heyler_, Ave. Jules-Ferry 54 (Théâtre Rossini, Pl. E, 4).

=Baths.= _Dublineau_, Rue d’Allemagne 17 (Pl. D, 5; well fitted up; bath 1½, Turkish 3 fr.); _Bains Français_, Rue de Suisse 8; _Bains Maures_ (comp. p. 175), Ave. Bab-Menara.

=Banks= (comp. p. 174). _Banque de l’Algérie_, Rue de Rome 18; _Comp. Algérienne_, Rue de Rome; _Banque de Tunisie_, Rue es-Sadikia 3; _Comptoir d’Escompte de Paris_, Ave. de France; _Cooperativa Italiana_, Rue es-Sadikia 7; _Krieger_, Rue al-Djazira 45.

=Goods Agents.= _Meyer_, Porte de France 35; _Dana_, Rue es-Sadikia 9.

=Booksellers.= _Niérat & Fortin_, Ave. de France 15, and _Saliba_, No. 17.—PHOTOGRAPHS (and photographic materials). _Lehnert & Landrock_, Ave. de France 17, and _Garrigues_, No. 9; _Neuer_, Rue Léon-Roches 6; _Vella_, Rue d’Allemagne 4.—NEWSPAPERS. _Dépêche Tunisienne_, _Tunisie Française, Unione_ (Ital. and Fr.).—SHOP for European goods, _Magasin Général_, Ave. de France 22 (fixed prices). Oriental goods at the _Musée Ahmed Djamal_, Souk el-Attârîn 11 and Rue d’Autriche 108; _Pohoomull Frères_, Ave. de France 17. The Oriental articles in the SOUKS (pp. 335–337) and even the fezes (chechia) are mostly of European make and may be bought cheaper at home. Important purchases should not be made without the aid of a friend who knows the country and its ways (bargaining necessary). The services of touts, guides, and hotel servants should be declined, as they tend to raise prices.

=Theatres.= _Théâtre du Casino Municipal_, in the Casino Municipal (see below), entrance in the Ave. Jules-Ferry, for operas and operettas, 15th Nov. to 15th April; _Théâtre Rossini_ (Pl. E, 4), Ave. Jules-Ferry 48, for Italian and French dramas.—CASINO MUNICIPAL (Pl. E, 4), Ave. de Carthage 1, with hall for concerts and varieties (‘Palmarium’), a summer terrace, card-rooms, and American bar. The _Pavillon du Belvédère_, in the park of the Belvedere (p. 338), is the summer casino of the same company.—BAND on Sun. and Thurs. afternoons, Place de la Résidence; on Wed. in front of the Cercle Militaire.

=English Church.= _St. George’s_ (‘Egl. anglic.’; Pl. C, 3), Rue Bab-Carthagène 39, service at 10.15 a.m.

=Sights.= _Bardo Museum_, same as Musée Alaoui, see below.

_Bardo Palace_ (p. 340), week-days, at any hour; tickets at the Musée Alaoui (comp, below).

_Bibliothèque Française_ (p. 333), week-days 9–11 and 2–4 (in summer 8–11 only).

_Dâr el-Bey_ (p. 336), daily, 9–11 and 3–5; fee ½–1 fr.

_Jardin d’Essais_ (p. 338), daily 8–11 and 1–5 (April-Oct. 7–11 and 3–6).

_Musée Alaoui_ (p. 340), daily except Mon. and great Catholic festivals 9.30–11.30 and 1–4 (16th Feb. to 15th Oct. 2–5), 1 fr. (Sun. free); the same ticket admits to the Bardo Palace also, if visited on the same day.

=Two Days.= 1st. Forenoon, _Ave. Jules-Ferry_ and _Ave. de France_ (p. 333); walk through the _Souks_ of the Medina (p. 335) and the adjoining _Mohammedan Quarters_ (p. 334); visit to _Place el-Halfaouine_ (p. 337). Afternoon, _Bardo Museum_ (p. 340) or _Belvedere Park_ (p. 338), or, by carriage, both.—2nd. Excursion to _Carthage_, see R. 53.

_Tunis_, Ital. _Túnisi_, capital of the _Régence de Tunis_, and seat of the French Resident-General (p. 323) and of the Mohammedan university, is the largest city in N. Africa after Cairo and Alexandria, and vies with Sfax as a most important harbour. Population about 200,000, of whom about 115,000 are Mohammedans, 22,500 Jews, 41,000 Italians, 14,000 French, 5400 Maltese, and 250 Greeks.

The town lies in 36°47′ N. lat. and 10°10′ W. long., on the E. margin of the narrow tongue of land (rising to 190 ft.) between the _Lac de Tunis_ (or _Lake Bahira_, p. 129) and the small salt-lake _Sebkha es-Sedjoumi_, an old lagoon. The central part of the sea of houses composing the old town is the _Medina_, the oldest Moorish quarter, built largely out of the ruins of Thunes, Carthage, and Utica, and now the chief focus of trade and industry. Adjacent, to the N. and S., are two poor quarters, also chiefly Mohammedan, the _Rebat Bab-Souika_ and _Rebat Bab-Djazira_, formerly N. and E. suburbs. The monotonous European new town in the low ground to the E. of the Medina, exposed in summer to the exhalations of Lake Bahira, is gradually extending from the _Porte de France_ (formerly _Bab el-Bahar_, sea-gate) towards the harbour. On the brow of the hill to the W. of the old town are the old Kasba and most of the public buildings, almost all built under the French protectorate. Some of these lie outside the Turkish town-wall, once 6000 yds. long, erected in the 17th century.

_Tunis_, the ancient _Thunes_, a Berber name given to an earlier Phœnician colony, appears in history in 508 B.C. as an ally of Carthage. In 395 it was destroyed by rebellious Berber tribes. It was from Thunes that Agathocles (p. 163) and Regulus (p. 345) advanced against Carthage, and here, after the first Punic war, the discontented mercenaries from Sicca Veneria (p. 360) established themselves. Tunis was probably destroyed by the Romans at the same time as Carthage (146 B.C.) and rebuilt later. After the downfall of Carthage Utica (p. 353) entered into the heritage of her proud neighbour, but for a short time only; for from 29 B.C. onwards Carthage resumed her ancient supremacy and continued to flourish down to her second destruction in 698 A.D. This time Tunis was her natural successor. But the nomadic Arabs, being ignorant of navigation, and the Aglabides (p. 323) preferred Kairwan (p. 372), which had recently been founded in the heart of the Tunisian steppe; and the succeeding Fatimite and Zirite dynasties favoured the Sahel, with Mehdia (p. 369) as their new capital, to the detriment of N. Tunisia. At length, under the Hafsides (1206–1573; p. 323), Tunis became the capital, and rapidly grew to be the greatest and fairest city in the land, as well as a zealous promoter of the glorious Moorish art and science of the 13th and 14th centuries. The most distinguished of the Hafside sovereigns was Abû Abdallah Mohammed el-Mostanser Billah, who in 1270 defended his capital successfully against Louis IX., the Saint (p. 346). After the decline of that dynasty at the close of the 15th cent. and the capture of Tunis by Kheireddin (p. 221) in 1534, the city was attacked by the Spaniards in three different campaigns (p. 323), and was conquered four times by the Turks and the Algerians (in 1569, 1573, 1689, and 1757); yet in the 17th and 18th centuries, thanks to its Oriental trade and the booty of its pirates, it again enjoyed great prosperity.

The only mediæval buildings in the old town which have survived all these vicissitudes are three mosques, now much modernized. The distinctive character of the present town is of Mauro-Turkish origin. Those who cross the threshold of the Orient here for the first time will be specially struck with the narrow and crooked lanes of the Mohammedan quarters, only 12–16 ft. wide, with the motley crowd in the Souks (p. 335), and with the picturesque concourse of all the tribes of N. Africa and the Sahara. The poor Jewish quarter (p. 337) is less interesting. The strange costume of the women, with their kufias or sugar-loaf hats, loose jackets, and tight-fitting trousers, is now rarely seen except on members of the older generation, while the pretty, old-fashioned costume of the girls is a thing of the past.

_John Howard Payne_ (b. 1792), author of ‘Home, Sweet Home’, was United States consul at Tunis from 1842 until his death in 1852.

a. The New Town.

From the _Harbour_ (Port; see inset map, Pl. E, 1), which together with the Bahira Canal (p. 129) was constructed in 1888–96, the short Avenue du Port (tramway No. 1, p. 330) leads through the _Piccola Sicilia_, a group of workmen’s huts, into the town, ending at the bronze statue of _Jules Ferry_ (1832–93), the French statesman who brought about the occupation of Tunisia.

The AVENUE JULES-FERRY (Pl. E, 4), or AVENUE DE LA MARINE, the finest street in the new town, 66 yds. wide and 710 yds. long, is planted with double avenues of fig-trees. On the left, just beyond the divergence, to the right and left, of the unfinished Avenue de Paris (p. 338) and Avenue de Carthage (Pl. E, 5–7), which together are 2¼ M. long, rises the _Casino Municipal_ (Pl. E, 4; p. 331).

The Ave. Jules-Ferry ends at the PLACE DE LA RÉSIDENCE (Pl. D, 4; band, see p. 331), the centre of the new town. To the left, on the S. side, rises the =Palais de la Résidence= (Pl. D, E, 4), or _Maison de France_, built in 1856–60 for the French consulate (see p. 334), and tastefully remodelled in 1890–2 by _Dupertuys_ as a dwelling for the resident-general. The beautiful garden is not accessible. Opposite the Residence is the =Cathedral= (Pl. D, 4); erected in 1893–7. The Rue es-Sadikia leads to the S. from the W. end of the square to the _Gare du Sud_ (p. 329).

The Ave. Jules-Ferry is continued by the much narrower AVENUE DE FRANCE (Pl. D, 4), intersecting the older European quarter, the favourite promenade of the town. A little to the S. of it, in the Rue d’Italie, which leads to the _Post and Telegraph Office_ (Pl. D, 5), is the _Marché_ (Pl. D, 5; interesting from 7 to 10 a.m.).

In the Rue de Russie, the southmost street in this quarter, is the _Bibliothèque Française_ (Pl. D, 5; adm., see p. 331), which is well supplied with literature relating to N. Africa.

b. The Old Town.

At the W. end of the Ave. de France (p. 333), the starting-point of several tramway-lines (see p. 330), is the Porte de France (p. 332), and beyond it lies the PLACE DE LA BOURSE (Pl. D, 4), which presents a busy scene all day. In and near this square are most of the =Consulates= (British among others), as during the Turkish period. The old _French Consulate_ (about 1650 to 1860), which served also as a warehouse (fondouk), is at No. 15 Rue de l’Ancienne-Douane.

To the W. from the Place de la Bourse run the two chief thoroughfares of the Medina. To the right is the RUE DE LA KASBA (Pl. D, C, 4, 5; p. 336), leading past the Jewish quarter (p. 337) and the _Souk el-Grana_ (Pl. C, 4) to the upper boulevards (p. 336), to which it is the chief approach. To the left is the RUE DE L’EGLISE (Pl. D, C, 4, 5), leading direct to the Souks of the Medina, the main business street of the Christian merchants in the Turkish period.

We follow the Rue de l’Eglise. On the left is the small church of _Ste. Croix_ (Pl. C, D, 4, 5; 1662), to which the street owes its name. Then, on the right, is the _Administration des Habous_, the headquarters of the Mohammedan pious foundations. Lastly we pass through a vaulted passage under the _Direction des Antiquités_.

The Rue de l’Eglise ends at the Rue de Djamâa ez-Zitouna, on the E. side of the chief mosque, the =Djamâa ez-Zitouna= (Pl. C, 5), which is said to trace its origin to the tomb of St. Oliva of Palermo, a Christian saint revered even by many Mohammedans. The mosque was founded in 732 by Obeïd Allah ibn el-Habbab, enlarged by the Aglabide Sijadet Allah I. (p. 374), and repeatedly altered under the Hafsides. When Tunis was plundered by the troops of Emp. Charles V. the mosque was used as a stable. Since then the edifice has been much modernized, and is lavishly adorned with spoils from Carthage. The chief portal, behind the colonnade in the Rue de Djamâa ez-Zitouna, where on Fridays the clergy receive the Sheikh ul-Islam, or supreme pontiff, and the side-portal in the Souk des Etoffes (p. 335) have each an ornamental ancient pillar as a lintel. The many-aisled interior, with its 161 columns and two domes over the nave, is similar in plan to the Sidi Okba Mosque at Kairwan (p. 374). The new minaret, 145 ft. high, erected in the Andalusian style by _Si Slîmân Ennigro_ in 1894, is a free copy of the old tower. The pile of buildings is best surveyed from the roof of the Dâr el-Bey (p. 336).

The mosque serves also as a lecture-room for the Mohammedan _University_. The instruction is under the direction of the Sheikh ul-Islam; there are about a hundred teachers and 400 students. Admittance to the twenty-two medersas, or colleges, for students from other parts of the country, and to the library famed for 7000 Oriental MSS. is granted to none but Mohammedans.

The Zitouna Mosque lies in the region of the *=Souks= (Pl. C, 5; Arabic _sûk_, market), the market quarter of the Medina, dating from the Hafside period (13th cent.). As usual in the East the lanes are roofed over. The small narrow shops are shut in by a counter, over which the trader swings himself into his seat with the aid of a rope. Most trades have their own streets. It is interesting to watch the people at work in those souks where the wares are made on the spot. The larger bazaars in some of the streets are designed solely to attract foreigners. The busiest time is the early morning. Friday is the Mohammedan, and Saturday the Jewish day of rest. As to purchases, see p. 331. In and near the Souks are many small Arab coffee-houses and barbers’ shops.

From the Rue de Djamâa ez-Zitouna we turn to the right to visit the =Souk el-Attârîn=, the spice-market, founded in 1249. Besides the spices and perfumes sold here (such as essence of jasmine and rose-geranium, sometimes palmed off on strangers as attar of roses), we observe amber, dried henna-leaves, henna-powder (p. 108), and the big candles, often branched, which are used at weddings and for the tombs of saints.—The side-street to the right, opposite the N. side of the mosque, is the _Souk el-Blagdjia_, for leather-wares.

At the W. end of the spice-market, to the left, opposite the Rue Sidi Ben-Arous (see below), is the =Souk des Etoffes=, on the W. side of the mosque, with its display of silk and woollen stuffs, carpets from Kairwan, and rugs from the Djerid (p. 386) and from Djerba (p. 393).

Adjoining the Souk des Etoffes is the busy _Souk des Femmes_, the only one frequented by Mohammedan women, where female apparel, trinkets, and slippers of Saffian leather (p. 109) are sold.

Between these two souks the _Souk el-Leffa_ (Pl. C, 5), off which, on the right, is the _Souk el-Kebabdjia_ (lace), leads to the *=Souk Sekajine=, the saddle-market, where, among gorgeous caparisons embroidered in gold and silver, we are specially struck with the ornaments worn by horses at the fantasias (p. 99).

We return to the Souk el-Leffa. Thence, to the left, we follow the short _Souk ed-Dziria_, past the _Hôpital Sadiki_ (Pl. B, C, 5), destined for natives, to the—

Rue Sidi Ben-Ziad, on the S. side of the Dâr el-Bey (p. 336). The small _Sidi Youssef Mosque_ (‘Mosquée’; Pl. C, 5), belonging to the Hanefites (p. 445), with the handsome tomb of the founder and an octagonal minaret, dates from 1610–37.—At the lower end of the street, where the Souk el-Bey branches off to the left to the Place de la Kasba, we turn to the right into the—

=Souk el-Berka=, the slave-market, which was abolished only in 1842. Down to 1816 Christians captured by the pirates were sold here by auction. This is now the seat of the silversmiths, goldsmiths, and dealers in antiquities, mostly Jews. The best of their gold trinkets are from Paris; the fine silver filigree is Genoese or Maltese; the ancient coins are often spurious.

From the Souk el-Berka the _Souk el-Trouk_, the street of the tailors, almost all Jews, who make the rich costumes of the Moslems, leads back to the Souk el-Attârîn.

From the N.W. angle of the Zitouna Mosque the Rue Sidi Ben-Arous leads into the Rue de la Kasba (p. 334). At the junction of these streets, adjoining the burial-chapel of _Mohammed Murad Bey_ (d. 1705), is the Hanefite _Mosque of Sidi ben-Arous_ (Pl. C, 5), of 1654, similar in plan to that of Sidi Youssef (p. 335), with an elegant minaret.

The Rue de la Kasba ends at the PLACE DE LA KASBA (Pl. B, C, 5), with its charming grounds.

On the S. side of this square rises the =Dâr el-Bey= (Pl. B, C, 5), the largest pile of buildings in the Medina, erected in 1810 on the foundations of a Roman theatre(?) by Moroccan architects under Hamuda Bey as his town-palace. It is now the seat of the French secretary-general and other authorities. The Bey usually comes hither on Monday mornings from La Marsa (p. 351) for the transaction of business. Admittance, see p. 331. The entrance is by the portal where a sentry is posted.

The covered quadrangle (patio) on the first floor forms the centre of the palace. The fine timber ceiling in the dining-room is the only object of interest in the state apartments. The council-chamber of the ministers has a dome with remarkably fine stucco-work. Here, as in the Bardo and at Kassar-Saïd, the effect is marred by European gewgaws.

Fine *View from the flat roof over the white houses of the town, the Zitouna and many smaller mosques. Best light at and after noon.

To the W. of the Place de la Kasba, at the junction of the two upper boulevards Bab-Benat (Pl. B, 4; p. 337) and Bab-Menara (Pl. B, C, 5, 6), the old town culminates in the =Kasba= (Pl. B, 5), an extensive group of barracks on the site of the palace of the Hafsides and the Turkish citadel. The _Kasba Mosque_, with its fine minaret, well restored in 1904, dates from 1231–5.

Near the old Bab-Menara, where the Souk des Sacs diverges to the reservoir of the waterworks (p. 339), is the small _Mosquée el-Ksar_ (Pl. C, 5), the oldest in Tunis, said to have been founded by Hassan ibn en-Nôman (p. 322). The handsome minaret (1545) is an addition of the Turkish period.

On the N. side of the mosque runs the Rue du Château. No. 3 is the DIVISION D’OCCUPATION (Pl. C, 5), the seat of the French commandant, formerly the *_Dâr-Hussein_ (18th cent.; well restored in 1876), one of the finest Mauro-Turkish palaces in Tunis. (Adm. by special introduction only.)

The _Rue des Andalous_ (Pl. C, 5), which begins here, and its side-street Rue du Riche are the aristocratic streets of the Medina. Many of the houses have elegant marble portals and artistically grated windows. Parallel, on the E., leading to the Avenue de Bab-Djedid, runs the long Rue Tourbet el-Bey, in which at No. 62, at the corner of the Rue Sidi-Zamouhl, rises the _Tourbet el-Bey_ (Pl. C, 6), the domed tomb of the Husseinites (p. 323; ladies sometimes admitted).

The Rue Sidi Kassem, the next side-street on the left, leads to the _Djamâa Djedid_ (‘new mosque’), or _Mosquée des Teinturiers_ (Pl. C, 5, 6), founded by Hussein Ali ben-Turki (p. 323). The modern minaret is by Si Slîmân Ennigro (p. 334).

The open space near the dilapidated _Bab Djedid_ (Pl. C, 6), dating from 1277, is an afternoon haunt of snake-charmers and story-tellers (5–10 c. to the boy soliciting money).

Between the Bab Djedid and the Place aux Chevaux (Pl. B, 6; p. 339) is the =Market Quarter= of _Rebat Bab-Djazira_ (p. 332), containing the _Souk el-Aâssar_, the _Souk des Armes_, and the _Marché-au-Blé_.

From the Bab Djedid we return to the Place de la Kasba (p. 336; tramway No. 2, see p. 330).

In the BOULEVARD BAB-BENAT, in an old Moslem cemetery on the right, is the _Tekia_ (Pl. B, 4, 5), a home for the aged (1905). On the left, founded in 1876, is the _Collège Sadiki_ (Pl. B, 4), a high school for Moslems. Farther on rises the handsome _Palais de Justice_ (Pl. B, 4; 1901). These two buildings are in the neo-Moorish style.

We may now proceed direct to the Place Bab-Souika (see below; tramway No. 3, p. 330); but it is better to take the less direct route through the N.W. part of the Medina, by the Rue du Lutteur (diverging to the right from Boul. Bab-Benat, a little before the Palais de Justice), Rue du Pacha (Pl. B, 4), Rue de la Hafsia (Pl. B, C, 4), Rue Achour (Pl. C, B, 4, 3; with the Hanefite _Mosque of Sidi Mohammed Bey_ on the left), Rue el-Monastiri, and Rue Sidi-Mahrez.

On the left, in the last-named street, rises the *=Mosque of Sidi Mahrez= (Pl. B, 3), with several domes in the Turkish style, built in the latter half of the 17th cent., resembling in the interior the Ahmed Mosque of Constantinople (p. 550). The square minaret was added early in the 19th century.—On the right is the school or _Zaouïa Sidi Mahrez_.

The picturesque PLACE BAB-SOUIKA (Pl. B, C, 3) lies between the Medina and the poor _Rebat Bab-Souika_ (p. 332). Executions took place here in the Turkish period. The Rue el-Halfaouine (‘alfa street’), partly vaulted over, and lined with butchers’ shops, leads hence to the lively and industrious—

PLACE EL-HALFAOUINE (Pl. B, 2), with its numerous Arab cafés, where on Mohammedan festivals, such as Ramadan (p. 447) and Bairam, the evenings and nights are spent in mirth and frolic. On the W. side is the _Djamâa Sahab et-Taba_ (Pl. B, 2), one of the largest mosques in Tunis, founded on blocks of stone from Carthage. The _Souk el-Djedid_ on the N. side is for silk wares.