5 Photos of Bourguiba Mausoleum

When I saw this on the rundown for our last day on tour in Tunisia I didn't have high hopes. I understood that it was important to the local Tunisians, being that it is a monument to Habib Bourguiba who was the first president of Tunisia after independence from France in 1956. I assumed it would be something that was interesting if you lived under the rule of or understood the modern history of Tunisia, but I didn't know it and therefore thought it would be lost on me.

But it was both a beautiful building as well as a fascinating, if small museum to the man himself.

Very briefly. Bourguiba was part of the independence movement in Tunisia pre world world two and then the president after independence, he played a major role in modernizing Tunisia, including granting equal rights to women, outlawing polygamy and placing huge importance on education. I won't go into it all here, but he was really quite a fascinating man and the modern Tunisian history is in itself very interesting.

As for the Massoleum it was built in 1963 (well before Bourguiba died which is a little odd) in Monastir which was where he was born. It is in the Modern Arab style, sometimes called the turkish style. I love the arches but also the patterns in the brickwork are amazing, and I think at least almost have an art deco feel.

Anyway it was one of the surprises of the trip for me and proves that even after all my travelling I'm still useless at it, I should know that if you don't know something about history of a place that doesn't mean it isn't worth knowing, it's actually a chance to learn.