Dar Lasram

Dar Lasram is one of the palaces of the medina of Tunis. It is located at 24 Tribunal Street.

Main courtyard of Dar Lasram

History

The Lasram's, an aristocratic family of Tunis, descend from a Yemeni tribe settled in Kairouan. It is composed of rich landowners. Most of them were ministers of the Pen (Arabic: وزارة القلم‎, French: ministres de la Plume).[1] One of them, Hamouda Lasram,[2] is a rich landowner and a khawaja of the Igawawen tribe (secretary of Berber cavalry regiments).

In order to get a large plot and build the palace, he acquired and demolished several neighboring buildings. Its construction lasted from 1812 to 1819.[3]

A room of Dar Lasram

Until the independence and the abolition of the habous, his descendants lived in the palace (which was considered inalienable as a habous).

In 1964, the municipality of Tunis acquired it. Four years later, in 1968,[4] it is allocated to the Association de sauvegarde de la médina de Tunis.

Architecture

Dar Lasram, with a surface area of 2250 m2,[3] is a good example of a large traditional Tunisian residence. The ground floor contains the warehouse and the service area, the first floor is reserved to family members while the upper floor is reserved to guests.

Nowadays, the palace is divided between the Association de sauvegarde de la médina and the Tahar Haddad Club.[4]

  • View of the main patio's arches
  • Close-up of a Neo-doric capital of the main patio
  • Close-up of a stucco-work in the main patio
  • Painted decoration in the ceiling of one of the patio's porticoes
  • View of a painted ceiling with vegetal arabesque ornament
  • View a ceiling sculpted with roses and geometrical frames

References
  1. Ben Achour, Mohamed El Aziz (1989). Catégories de la société tunisoise dans la deuxième moitié du XIXe siècle. Tunis: Institut national d'archéologie et d'art. pp. 176–178.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Dar Lasram". qantara-med.org (in French). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  4. Binous, Jamila; Jabeur, Salah (2001). Les maisons de la médina. Tunis: Dar Ashraf. p. 119.

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