Tunisia.. The Ottoman heritage is a common history in the Maghreb | culture

Over the course of last Wednesday and Thursday, Tunisia hosted the “International Conference on the Ottoman Heritage” in the Maghreb, which was organized by the Research Center on Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, in the tourist resort of Hammamet in northeastern Tunisia. Researchers from Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco gathered to study the Ottoman heritage and consider how to value and preserve it.

Heritage is a path to the future

The head of the Research and Publications Department at the IRCICA Center, Cengiz Tomar, spoke about their activity in organizing conferences, workshops, exhibitions, and printing books about the entire Arab region, especially the Moroccan countries.

Adding that the Ottoman period was important in the regions of the Maghreb, not only politically, but also in administrative and economic terms, as well as architecture, culture and heritage, and Ottoman antiquities are present in books and maps about this region. The Ottoman archive in Türkiye contains many documents related to this period.

Reviewing the center’s efforts in this context, Tomar pointed to their role in organizing many conferences that bring together professors from the Maghreb, foreigners, and Turks, explaining the usefulness of these meetings because the research of professors inside or outside Turkey is often not benefited from because they do not meet together, while those Conferences and workshops allow this cooperation, presenting new ideas and studies for the future, and publishing books in Arabic, French, English, and several languages.

The conference brings together Moroccan and Turkish professors to participate in supporting antiquities, researching and studying that Ottoman period, and building good future relations in the Islamic world.

This is the second time this conference on the Ottoman heritage has been held in Tunisia, and Tomar hopes to organize it in Türkiye next time.

Turks and Arabs… friendly relations

Tomar emphasizes the friendly relations between Turkey, the Arab world and the Maghreb, explaining that the existing heritage from the Ottoman era does not belong to the Turks alone or to the Arabs alone, but rather it is an Islamic and human heritage that indicates that we have been here since ancient times. Stressing that what is happening now in some areas in Syria and Iraq, and the demolition of some Islamic and Ottoman monuments, erases the existence of this culture.

He stressed the importance of architecture and antiquities for the future and for future generations, so that those generations will see that history is shared among peoples in the Islamic world. Emphasizing its tourism importance, Tunisia has a great history from Carthage to the Romans, Islam and the Ottoman period.

Pointing to the richness of the Islamic and Ottoman periods, and that the heritage of that period is not limited to architecture only, but extends to the manual, architectural and artistic heritage.

The palaces of the Beys are in danger

“The Ottoman heritage in Tunisia is concentrated in the capital and its suburbs,” said Mohamed Al-Aidoudi, an engineer and Tunisian heritage researcher, as part of studies he carried out to complete his doctoral dissertation, which focused on the Bey palaces in Tunisia. The Beys – especially the Husseinites (named after Bey Hussein bin Ali) – were Ottomans who ruled Tunisia from 1705 to 1956.

Al-Aydoudi added that the state was the main heir to the Bey palaces after the exit of France (March 1956), and their number – according to historians such as the French historian Jacques Revaux and the Tunisian historian Bey Al-Obaidi – reached about 200 palaces dating back to the Ottoman period, but unfortunately only 35 palaces remain, He counted 15 palaces, between abandoned palaces and palaces that were repurposed for use in a different way as official administration centers.

Recruitment of Ottoman palaces

Al-Aidoudi pointed out that the majority of the palaces that were repurposed were used for administrative needs, such as administrative and educational headquarters, some of them were used as museums, and the rest were not subject to the necessary studies.

Considering it was an Ottoman legacy that was important to Tunisia, Al-Aidoudi called on the state to intensify interest in it by completing a map around it and finding sources to finance it. He pointed out the need to complete the review of the Heritage Magazine, to allow these palaces to be converted into heritage buildings, as the magazine does not cover the issue in all its aspects, which hinders heritage rescue operations.

In order for the state to arrange or protect a landmark, it must contribute to the cost of rehabilitating it, according to Al-Turath magazine, and Al-Aidoudi demands that this be resolved at the level of Al-Turath magazine, so that the existing one can be restored and not left neglected, as some palaces are still inhabited randomly by some families, and due to weak capabilities, The state was unable to return it to value it and restore life to it again.

Al-Aidoudi warned that the first step to preserving this heritage is to recognize it, inventory it, count it, and create a map of the ancient buildings. Some landmarks have already survived, and the state has found the capabilities to preserve them, but the rest has not been arranged or counted and has remained submerged among other buildings.

Al-Aidoudi stressed that the Bey palaces are an important heritage of a rich historical era in Tunisia, and must be revalued and reused.

Precious architecture

For her part, Tunisian researcher Rachida Dimassi stressed the importance of madrasas in the Ottoman heritage in the Maghreb, especially architecture in Tunisia, by saying, “The Sadiqi Madrasah is a symbol and a great model for Ottoman madrasas in terms of scholastic architecture. It is a very precious and beautiful architecture that overlooks many other places in the ancient city.” They are Ottoman buildings, such as the Aziza Othmana Hospital, Kasbah Square, and Dar El Bey.

Al-Dimassi added that the school was built in a high place called Sinan Pasha, with two facades, one opening onto an old barracks that was demolished to build a new landmark (opposite the Ministry of Defence), and the second on Bab Banat Street (in the Old City). It is a huge building that expanded on both sides, and two domes were built on both sides. And a silo. The minaret is a symbol of the traditional Zaytouna teaching that is performed in mosques and mosques, especially the Great Mosque of Zaytouna located in the Old City, which is a prominent landmark.

Al-Dimassi mentioned that Khair al-Din Pasha (1820-1890) had assumed the prime ministership in Tunisia before he left for Istanbul to occupy the position of the Ottoman Grand Vizier. He was the reformer appointed by Muhammad al-Sadiq Bey, who introduced major changes in education. At that time, France was preparing to enter Tunisia and began to leak.

She said that this Sadiqi school was established in early February 1875 in a barracks on the approach to the Zaytouna Mosque (the link between the Zaytouna Mosque and Bab al-Bahr), and after Khair al-Din Pasha’s visit to France, he introduced a European style to the new building to which the school later moved (and it is in it). to today).

Ancient Ottoman schools

Al-Dimasi observed the presence of other Andalusian, Spanish, and Arabic artistic styles in those schools, in addition to teaching chemistry, physics, algebra, and languages ​​due to the administration’s need for translators. In addition to Arabic, Khair al-Din introduced several other languages ​​to teaching, such as French, English, and Turkish. To build this school, alabaster was brought from the city of Carrara in Italy.

Al-Demasi explained that Ottoman schools existed in Tunisia during the 17th, 18th, 19th, and even the 20th centuries. In addition to the Sadiqiyya School, there are many other schools in the city of Tunisia, including the Tabbiyya School (named after the vizier Youssef Sahib al-Tabbabih 1765-1815), the Bashiyya School, and the Andalusian School.

She confirmed that the National Institute of Heritage and the National Agency for Heritage Protection (governmental) protect the Ottoman urban heritage and others, and the Sadiqiye Madrasa was registered as a historical monument in UNESCO in 1995.

According to historical sources, the Ottoman presence in Tunisia continued from the year 1574 AD, when Commander Sinan Pasha liberated Tunisia from Spanish control, until 1881 when France occupied Tunisia.