Dar al-Taj Palace

[3] Swiss businessman and humanitarian Henry Dunant (1828–1910), who visited Dar al-Taj upon its completion by Mohammed Bey, expressed his admiration: When a foreigner arrives in La Marsa, everything tells him and makes him feel that he is approaching the residence of an Eastern sovereign.

There is activity around the palace: the carriages of the courtiers, pulled by expensive horses or mules; officers, generals on horseback, the prince's servants or Moors in grand costumes; European consuls in their carriages; foreigners, travelers, not to mention caravans of Arabs, Maltese, Jews; or camels, mule drivers, and all kinds of teams coming and going from Tunis to La Marsa.

In the center of this courtyard is a large alabaster fountain with three superimposed basins and topped with a spire adorned with a crescent.

Several doors open onto this vast courtyard: one of these Moorish-style doors is made of marbles of various colors [...] The Bey often receives in a vast gallery of Moorish style with stained glass windows of a thousand colors, which contribute to giving the arabesques of the ceiling and walls a fantastic appearance.

[1] The major reconstruction, expansion, and embellishment work carried out by Mohammed Bey resulted in a vast complex in the Italianate style popular at that time (second half of the 19th century).

On the outside, facing the gardens, a long baroque facade appears, punctuated on the floors by rectangular windows and balconies with Mashrabiya.