[1] It is the last great mosque built in Tunis before the establishment of French protectorate in 1881.

Its construction lasted six years, from 1808, led by Ben Sassi and a workforce consisting primarily of slaves captured by European pirates to Tunis and made available to the Minister by Hammouda Pacha.

It is influenced by Italian architecture; columns with fluted shafts, capitals and especially a unique type of veneer marble polychrome.

The mosque dominates the imposing Halfaouine district with its many domes and colonnaded galleries Italian marble work.

The combination of these schedules in place of worship is a unique example in the construction of religious buildings.