Description of the attraction
In the city of Monastir, on the territory of the medieval ribat, there is the Bourguiba Mausoleum - the tomb of a famous politician and the first president of the state of Tunisia. It was Habib Bourguiba who achieved the independence of Tunisia in 1956, became president a year later and held this post for 30 years! This man played an important role in the history of the state, for which the locals love him so much.
The construction of the Mausoleum began in 1963 in the western part of the ribat, when part of the Sidi El Mezri cemetery was taken away for the construction of the tomb of the first president and his family. A wide alley lined with multicolored marble tiles and planted with trees and bushes leads to the Mausoleum of Khabib Bourguiba.
In front of the entrance to the Mausoleum, there are two minarets with golden domes, near which an elegant colonnade topped with a green roof begins. The height of each minaret is 25 meters, so they can be seen from the very beginning of the alley.
Above the main building of the Mausoleum rises a golden ribbed dome on an octagonal drum, and three green domes are visible a little further from it. They are crowned with gilded crescents. The tomb itself, which houses the sarcophagus with the body of the president, is decorated with colored marble, stone carvings, tiles, ceramics and gold. Bourguiba's relatives - his parents and wife - rest in the side buildings with green domes.
Next to the main building of the Mausoleum is the Habib Bourguiba Museum. It contains photographs, important documents and personal belongings of the president.
The mausoleum of Habib Bourguiba has served as a backdrop for many historical films about the East.
