Manouba, Tunisia

🇹🇳 Manouba is a city in north-eastern Tunisia, and is part the metropolitan area of Tunis, also called "Grand Tunis". It is located at the west of Tunis city centre. It is the capital city of Manouba Governorate. Manouba is well known for its university. It is also often viewed as a desirable place for family life because of its security, availability of various services and its high level of education.

Historically, Manouba is noted as the birthplace of the sufi saint Sayyida ʿĀʾisha al-Mannūbiyya (1199–1267 CE), and until 2012 the city contained a shrine to her, supposedly her father's house. It was customary in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, for the Beys of Tunis to make a ritual circuit of city's the great shrines on the 27th day of Ramaḍān (laylat al-Qadr) and visit this shrine. More recently, 'up until the Tunisian revolution of January 2011, once a week, on Sundays or Mondays, rituals were held … During the day, the shrines were women's space, devoted to music and trance rituals. At night, they became men's space, dedicated to Ṣūfī ceremonies (dhikr … )'. However, on 6 October 2012, the shrine was burned down by religious extremists, thought to be young Salafis; ʿĀʾisha's catafalque was entirely destroyed.

Architecture and urban planning Manouba was part of the summer residences of the beys in Tunis. This is why the city houses a set of palaces belonging to beylical ministers. There are nearly twenty large houses, including eight palaces in the middle of the segna (vegees) of the19th century, built on the model of Italian palaces with strong Arab-Andalusian notes.

We can mention among the best known: • the Kobbet El Nhas Palace, built by Moustapha Bey and inhabited by the Mamluk General Farhat Gaied Jbira and then the Mamluk General Rachid; it was there that the nationalist leader Salah Farhat was born in 1894; • the Ali Zarrouk or Dar Rustum palace, built by General Rustum and became the seat of Manouba governorate; • the Palace of the Rose (Ksar el warda), transformed by Sadok Bey into a cavalry barracks and now home to the National Military Museum; • Mohammed Khaznadar Palace has become private property; • the Kheireddine Pacha Palace (El Makaad), confiscated by the bey in 1864 to be offered to him and then became the private property of Sofia Ben Azouz, daughter of Colonel (binbachi) El Hadj Khelifa Tounsi, controller general of the expenses of the Beylicaux palaces. 


Education The city is known for its university. It also hosts the Institute of Press and Information Sciences and the Higher School of Digital Economics.

Paranoma of the university campus from the National School of Computer Science.

Health Facade of the Razi Hospital. The city of Manouba has been served by Razi Hospital, an institution specialized in the field of psychiatry since July 1, 1931.

Transport Manouba is served by line 4 of the Tunis light metro. The city has ten stations and houses one of the two terminals of the line (Kheireddine station).

The city of La Manouba must be served by the future line D of the Tunis Rapid Rail Network with three stations: La Manouba, Cité des Oranges and Gobaa.