Renovation and sustainable tourism in Kairouan, Tunisia

Pilot Operation

Renovation and Sustainable Tourism in Kairouan, Tunisia Tradition, residents and tourism

Institut National du Patrimoine Tunisie

Pilot Operation

Renovation and Sustainable Tourism in Kairouan, Tunisia Tradition, residents and tourism El presente programa está financiado por la unión europea

Euromed

Euromed heritage

Agencia española De cooperación internacional

Col·legi d’aparelladors I arquitectes tècnics de barcelona

MINISTÈRE DE LA CULTURE ET DE LA SAUVEGARDE DU PATRIMOINE République Tunisienne

Institut National du Patrimoine Tunisie

Consortium Rehabimed Project Manager: Xavier CASANOVAS Members Ministry of Communications and Works Department of Antiquities of Cyprus Person in charge: Evi FIOURI Bureau Culturel de l’Ambassade de la République Arabe d’Egypte en France Supreme Council of Antiquities, Egypte Persons in charge: Mahmoud ISMAÏL and Wahid Mohamed EL-BARBARY

Rehabimed project’s Scientific Commitee: Brigitte Colin: UNESCO Josep Giralt: Institut Europeu de la Mediterrània (IEMed) Paul Oliver(United Kingdom): Oxford Brookes University English translation: ADDENDA Spanish translation: Anna CAMPENY Arab translation: Saïed ALLANI Mourad RAMMAH

Col·legi d’Aparelladors i Arquitectes Tècnics de Barcelona, Spain Person in charge: Xavier CASANOVAS

Graphic design: AD Lluís Mestres. Graphic Design Jordi Ruiz, Marta Vilches

Ecole d’Avignon, France Person in charge: Patrice MOROT-SIR

Website: www.rehabimed.net

Centre Méditerranéen de l’Environnement Marrakech, Maroc Person in charge: Moulay Abdeslam SAMRAKANDI

© 2008 Col·legi d’Aparelladors i Arquitectes Tècnics de Barcelona for RehabiMed consortium.

Bon Pastor, 5 – 08021 Barcelona, Spain rehabimed@apabcn.cat

Institut National du Patrimoine, Tunisie Person in charge: Mourad RAMMAH Director: Xavier Casanovas Coordination Pilot Operation: Mourad RAMMAH Architect Pilot Operation: Khaled KAROUI Texts: Mourad RAMMAH, Khaled KAROUI Interviews: Nourreddine LOGHMARI Photos and images: RehabiMed team, Ahmed GDAH, Haroun SAMER and Pol GUILLARD

ISBN: 84-87104-92-4 RehabiMed wish to encourage the reproduction of this work and the diffusion of its contents, with due mention of its source.

This project is financed by the Euromed Heritage programme of the European Union and by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI).

The opinions expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union or its member states.

Introductory note

Modern-day Tunisia considers, quite rightly, that heritage is a vital factor in sustainable development, preserving the authenticity of peoples and their diversity at a time when the challenges of globalization are constantly threatening societies, disrupting their ways of life and undermining their cohesion.

Heritage has therefore become the object of particular attention, and the President of Tunisia ordered the creation of a series of institutions specializing in heritage protection and training scientific and technical professionals.

Furthermore, Tunisian universities have introduced into their syllabuses a series of heritage-related specializations, and various legal texts, such as the Heritage Code, have been passed to preserve the authenticity of our traditional historic cities and sites.

Tunisia has also devoted an entire month to heritage, featuring events such as exhibitions, talks and conferences. This effort has placed modern-day Tunisia among Mediterranean and Arabic countries that carry out exemplary policies in the field of heritage preservation and conservation.

This success explains Rehabimed’s decision to carry out a pilot project in Tunisia, specifically in the city of Kairouan, a World Heritage Site that has conserved its traditional cachet. Placette Zarrouk, known as Jraba, was therefore selected for the implementation of this project on the theme of Rehabilitation and Sustainable Tourism.

Thanks to its key position at the centre of the Medina, opening onto the streets and itineraries adjacent to residential quarters, souks and historic monuments,

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Introductory note

Place Jraba is a fine example of rehabilitation that promotes the development of sustainable cultural tourism.

The aim of this project is to encourage cooperation between the two shores of the Mediterranean. This worthy undertaking that establishes dialogue between human civilizations serves to discover the genius of different peoples by means of their material and intangible heritage, and ensure understanding and dialogue between nations.

Consequently, Tunisia is opting for cultural tourism with a solid foundation, anchored in its social bedrock of 3000 years of history.

I would like to make the most of this opportunity to thank all of our heritage experts and specialists, headed by Xavier Casanovas, coordinator of the Rehabimed project, and Mourad Rammah, conservator of the Medina of Kairouan, who supervised the implementation of this project. They combined their efforts and coordinated their thoughts to bring about the success of this project, thereby proving that cooperation between individuals, irrespective of differences in language, culture or beliefs, can only be beneficial.

I particularly welcome the decision of the Rehabimed Committee to publish this experience and make it available to specialists with a view to inspiring further schemes to preserve and publicize our traditional Mediterranean cities.

My thanks to everyone, near or far, who contributed to the implementation of this project and its success, at every stage, from its conception to its implementation and publication.

Mohamed BĂŠji Ben Mami Director General of the INP Tunis, 30 January 2008

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Contents

1. Cultural tourism 1.1 Heritage and cultural tourism. Towards creative management of heritage

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2. The city of Kairouan 2.1 History 2.2 Kairouan today 2.3 Architectural characteristics of the Medina 2.4 Types of houses 2.5 Construction methods 2.6 Kairouan architectural vocabulary

13 15 16 19 22 23

3. Pilot Operation 3.1 The aims of RehabiMed 3.2 Cultural tourism in Kairouan 3.3 The renovation of the Place Jraba 3.4 Seminar: Renovation and Sustainable Tourism in Kairouan 3.5 Place Jraba 3.5.1 Purpose of the study 3.5.2 The intervention scheme 3.5.3 Methodology and means of intervention 3.5.4 The operations carried out 3.5.5 Usages and building height plan 3.5.6 Alterations carried out 3.5.7 Description of operations

24 25 26 27 28 30 30 31 33 34 35 35

4. Results of the pilot operation 4.1 Events for children of the district 4.2 Certain people’s impressions concerning the square 4.3 Inauguration of Place Jraba

45 47 49

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Contents

Manual for the renovation of traditional Kairouan architecture Restoration of walls and rendering Traditional roofing Traditional lime-making Construction of vaults Manufacture of traditional solid bricks Stone cutting Paving Stone frames and carpentry Electrical installation Traditional pergola Wooden portico

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52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63

1. Cultural tourism

Bosra, Syrie

Tourism not only plays an economic role, it is also considered to be a human industry, originating with people, aimed at people and intended to bring people together and instil values of tolerance, concord and dialogue in them.

During the sixties, the efforts of the government, investors and financial backers were focused on beach tourism, as Tunisia has a coastline with 1300km of beaches. At the time, this was a fund available for trading at a good price and it made an excellent destination for the classical markets of Western Europe.

Now, at a time of great global change, it has become necessary to change the tourist product and to establish new niche markets by presenting a new product capable of attracting people who do not like the sea: that is, cultural, heritage and ecological potential.

Tunisia has a rich three-thousand-year history. In the past it has known many cultures and civilisations that have succeeded one another on its land, all leaving their marks, for example the ruins of Carthage, the Coliseum at El Jem, the mosaics of the Bardo Museum and the

historic cities and Islamic monuments of Kairouan, Tunis and Sousse. All this heritage and cultural wealth means Tunisia is provided with the assets it needs to fully move into the tourism of the future.

Nowadays, heritage forms an essential part of the tourist range, consisting either of development of heritage or development with heritage.

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1. Cultural tourism

1.1 Heritage and cultural tourism.

Towards creative management of heritage “The capacity for filling the void intelligently is the ultimate result of civilisation.”

Bertrand Russell A special collaboration by Manel Miró and Ángeles Montesinos. STOA In Mediterranean Europe since the 1990s, concern for the social use of cultural assets has increased significantly. To become convinced of this, you need only look at the large quantity of museums, monuments and interpretation centres that have opened their doors to the public, as well as the many schemes that have been drawn up.

As consultants on heritage and cultural tourism, we have often had to answer the same question: What can we do with our castle, our church, our mosque or our historic centre? The interesting aspect of the issue is that we are not asked how to preserve something, but rather how to get a return on the investment made in preserving it to benefit local development.

In fact, the main demand we have had to meet in drawing up and managing heritage improvement schemes has been to define the role cultural assets

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as well as being trained in art, history, anthropology or archaeology, know the techniques of strategic planning, cultural marketing and interpretation of heritage and who are capable of managing a budget or preparing a bid for a grant from an international programme.

should play in a particular area and in our society. In effect, it is society that is calling into question its traditional model of development and which is beginning to envisage alternative models based on the concept of sustainability and respect for the environment.

This means that we heritage professionals must also assume the role of social intermediaries, particularly if the it is taken into account that social participation and the search for broad consensuses between residents must and will be crucial for the planning of the new scenarios for development that is sustainable and respectful towards the environment, which are beginning to be envisaged within the Mediterranean as a whole.

However, before this process can be rewarded with success, two elements are necessary:

Firstly, the training of new heritage professionals. In fact, new professional profiles must be defined and the corresponding training cycles designed. It is no longer enough to offer traditional university degrees or masters’ courses, which have been designed to train researchers and teachers. The new situation requires heritage professionals who,

Secondly, the modernisation of heritage management. A new theoretical framework must be put in place for improving heritage based on the concepts of local development, territorial perspective and the social use of heritage. However, it is not enough to arm oneself with theoretical concepts, the current administrative structure, promoting an archaic, flat view of heritage management, must also be transformed in depth now that a strategic and creative vision is needed.

The proper training of a new generation of professionals and the application of these modernisation concepts to heritage development will make it possible to face the essential challenge, as well as the principal threat currently facing traditional Mediterranean architectural heritage:

The challenge To take advantage of the favourable situation involved in

1. Cultural tourism

the growth in cultural consumption to encourage the provision of resources for recovering and adapting cultural assets. The rapid development of cultural tourism makes it possible to envisage the improvement of heritage within the logic of the market economy and not merely based on essentialist, corporatist or ideological criteria. This would also allow the encouragement of the participation of civil society (business leaders, professionals, associations, groups, etc.) in the management of cultural assets, which in this way would cease to be the exclusive remit of the public administration, and permit a necessary step forward towards a real democratic debate on the use of cultural assets.

The threat. The threat is a dual one.

Firstly, it stems from the survival of development models based on speculation and not on sustainability, insensitive to the preservation of cultural and natural values. Secondly, it also stems from the corporatist attitudes of certain heritage professionals, who, too often, shut themselves off in their inaccessible ivory towers and forget that one of the essential functions consists of building bridges between heritage and society.

Sidi Bou Said, Tunisie

More than once, we have come across mayors irritated by the archaeological digs in progress in the territory of their municipality. Often, the cause of this irritation was the delay to works, which interested them more than the archaeology. On other occasions, however – and these are the ones that interest us here – the cause of the irritation was that no-one had made contact with them to explain the interest of these digs nor was anyone planning to do so. That is, in this second case, the mayors wanted to participate in the process of developing

the heritage of their municipality, even simply by making premises available where the dig team could keep their tools and instruments. This attitude demonstrates the weakness of the level of participation normally allowed for civil society in terms of making decisions involving heritage improvement schemes.

We all know that the resources given over to studying and developing heritage are limited. From this limitation follows the need to select and choose where, how and how much of the resources will be

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1. Cultural tourism

the monuments becoming accessible and the way they will become so, the formula making it possible to ensure a return on investment in heritage, etc.

If these plans do not exist, it will be difficult to judge or assess the results of proposals made.

invested. The absence of clear criteria for making these decisions – criteria on which prior agreement has been reached – opens the door to many of them being taken based on corporatist, interested or partisan criteria; in three words, not very democratically.

To resolve this conflict of interests democratically, we believe two things are necessary:

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Firstly, there is the generalisation of instruments for planning and using cultural assets, known in northern Europe under the name of strategic heritage interpretation plans. These plans, like strategic territorial plans, must be drawn up based on public participation, and their purpose is to produce a consensus concerning the use of the cultural assets in a particular area. This type of instrument is essential in order to develop coherent and realistic heritage policies providing a response to questions concerning restoration priorities, the type of activities proposed in priorities (or subsidised), the message given from the heritage point of view, potential audiences, the type of heritage that the administration must manage or acquire, the customers or traditions that are intended to be recovered,

Secondly, in order to face the deregulation caused by the current model of decision-making, it is necessary to develop a participation mechanism allowing the political leaders and social agents of a particular territory to state their interests and concerns involving the development of their heritage and included in connection with the priorities for issues relating to research. For these mechanisms to become operational, they must work on the basis of an interpretation plan and, in order to define the plan, it will not be sufficient to draw up a scheme in the solitude of an office, it will also be necessary to meet the local population and find out their opinions about heritage.

Too often, when the need or will to develop heritage in an area is envisaged, the ipso facto idea is to create an ethnographic museum or, more recently, to wave the magic wand of an interpretation centre.

One of the most common errors, when it comes to developing cultural heritage assets, consists of focusing the debate on an isolated asset or on just one of the aspects included in the management of these assets. In certain cases, for example, the stress is placed exclusively on preservation and, in others, it seems that the only concern is dissemination.

This error is the result of the general absence of an overall view in the management of cultural heritage. Its most serious consequence is that, in bringing one aspect to the fore at the expense of the others, imbalance and deviations can be caused: for example, the development of scientific research without a policy of dissemination and communication with the public is at the heart of the conception of heritage institutions as scientific bodies with very limited access. The same thing happens with policies focused exclusively on conservation, which limit community use of heritage and prevent it being developed. Meanwhile, dissemination without documentation and prior research falsifies reality and the lack of preservation leads to the destruction of heritage.

In the face of these “unilateral” ways of seeing things, the idea must be upheld that heritage must be understood as a complex system in which there must be

1. Cultural tourism

Kairouan, Tunisie

a balance between the five functions synthesising its usage and social action; that is: preservation, documentation, research, acquisition and dissemination.

From a territorial perspective, the development of heritage must be envisaged not only within the four walls of an exhibition. Instead it must be opened up to an integral idea of the landscape, including both original remains and existing buildings, that is, the places of memory.

Kairouan, Tunisie

From this point of view, the strategic planning processes making it possible for a heritage resource to be transformed into a driving force for local development may be summed up in three main points corresponding to three different moments: the first refers to the situation operating at the place where the work is to be carried out; the second, to the definition of objectives, while the third consists of asking the question what must be done to achieve these objectives.

What should the strategy and conception

of the end result be? How and how far (operational plan)? What activities of value should we generate around it and how do we promote it (marketing plan)?

Ultimately, what is its economic viability (viability plan)?

Firstly, we must approach the premises considered, the first ideas as well as the essential conditions on which the work is based. Below, we analyse the three pillars supporting schemes dealing with heritage and viewing it as a tourist destination:

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1. Cultural tourism

the target audience (who are we aiming at?), the monument itself (what are we presenting?) and the context around it.

After analysing these three pillars, we will define the weaknesses of the heritage item, its strengths, the threats and the opportunities involved from the tourism point of view in order to assess the way it could be adapted and modified to increase its power as an attraction.

or outsiders) it is necessary to put interpretation or museum programmes in place adapted to the latter’s needs and expectations. In addition, its viability must be ensured both from a financial point of view (that is, it must not be a cost to the municipal coffers) and from a social point of view (it should encourage the local community to appreciate its advantages and the opportunity involved).

This analysis will help with drafting a clear idea concerning the way of sequencing the changes in resources and infrastructures to strengthen their competitiveness.

At the end of this process, we must be ready to present for the heritage and the community around it, as a destination, a list of strategic and operational actions intended to position it in the cultural tourism market.

Because of all this, we must start from the basic questions: Who will come to visit the medina? What do these visitors expect to find there? How can we, as it were, make sure they benefit from and understand it?

Ultimately, the starting point for any heritage development scheme consists of discovering its possible audiences. In other words, it resides in the duty of preserving and protecting it for future generations and seeing that it is discovered by current generations, so that they come to establish emotional links with it, respecting and caring for it.

However, in order to create synergies between heritage and its visitors (locals

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Finally, we would like to leave some questions open to debate and reflection.

Is it necessary for civil society to be more committed to sustainability culture? Is it necessary for the economic agents to be more established in the area and more committed to development and conservation? Is it necessary for political leaders and heritage and tourism professionals to be more sensitive to planning culture?

If the answer to these questions is yes, it is time to ask another one. What kind of organisational and heritage management model must be developed to integrate heritage into spatial planning processes?

In other words, how and at which table(s) must those responsible for cultural assets and territorial management sit so that they can jointly reflect, in an integrated and systematic way, on the role that can be played by cultural and natural heritage in modern society, a society which has one of its main contradictions in the conflict between the misuse of land and sustainable use that respects the environment.

2. The city of Kairouan

2.1 History Founded in the year 50H/670 AD to serve as a military base for the conquest of North Africa, Kairouan benefited from the prolonged Berber resistance to become the political and economic capital of Tunisia. The city experienced a period of economic and commercial prosperity and a period of urban growth from the middle of the 7th century until the middle of the 11th century. The Aghlabids (800-909 A.D.) provided it with its most beautiful monuments, the Great Mosque (226 H/839 A.D.), the Mosque of Three Gates (252 H/866 A.D.) and the Aghlabid reservoirs, founded in 248 H/862 A.D. In 909, the Fatimids established themselves at Raqqada, which became the seat of the Caliphate, and their power extended through North Africa to Egypt, where they founded Cairo. The Fatimid Caliphs left Tunisia and delegated their power to their lieutenants, the Zirids, who made Kairouan into a great cultural and artistic centre. The height of their actions coincided with the Hilalian invasions (449 H/1057 A.D.) which led to the desertion of North Africa by the majority of its population and the decline in the influence of the city.

century onwards, the city was once again protected by ramparts three kilometres long but covering only a tenth of its area in its times of greatest prosperity.

Mustansir and the princes who succeeded him were particularly occupied with the Great Mosque. They consolidated its walls and renovated its ceilings. Mausoleums, saints’ shrines and domes were built by the sufis – aesthetes and religious men who multiplied in the city, giving it the attraction of great spirituality.

With the coming of the Hafsids, the city saw a certain renaissance. From the 13th

The number of inhabitants grew and the Bedouins established themselves

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2. The city of Kairouan

El Bey district (houmet)

there. Mosques, such as the Ibn Khayrun Mosque and the El Muallak Mosque, were revived. Souks, such as the souk of the cisterns, were reorganised and the people of Kairouan adapted themselves to surroundings made up of fields of cereals and great expanses of pasture. The city became a tanning, leather and weaving centre. It became a commercial market supplying its hinterland.

The Chabbiyyas, heads of a principality that took Kairouan as its capital in the 16th century, established the seat of their government (Dar Imara) there, along with

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the Kasbah and their residences, around the Place Jraba, where the souk had already been restored and altered in the Hafsid period. Later, when Mohamed Bey (16761697 A.D.) reigned for 10 years at Kairouan, the dignitaries of his regime established themselves in this area, promoting its decoration and development. It is from this period that the buildings of this district have maintained the beauty of their architecture, with sculpted façades and ceilings painted in the North African style.

This is why the 17th and 18th centuries are a period of stability and relative prosperity

accompanied by a development of the urban fabric, basically in the eastern part of the city, around the Great Mosque. Already, following the Spanish Reconquista, an important Andalusian community established itself in the district bearing the name “Khadraouine�, referring to the Spanish island El Khadra, where the basis of the contingents came from. This district is to the west of the Great Mosque and stretches as far as the Place Jraba.

Kairouan benefited from the solicitude of the Mouradites and the Husseinites, who remedied the neglect the city had

2. The city of Kairouan

been subject to in the period of the Ottoman governors. Hussein Ben Ali lavished particular attention on Kairouan, rebuilding its ramparts and building the Husseinite Médersa. His successors followed his example, marking their recognition for the position taken by the city at the time of Ali Bacha’s rebellion.

In the 19th century, the traveller Guérin estimated the population of Kairouan at 12,000 inhabitants. So, among other cities of the regency, Kairouan maintained a predominant place it would only lose under the French protectorate.

2.2 Kairouan today Nowadays, Kairouan is the seat of a governor. The population of the city exceeds 125,000 inhabitants and the city is made up of the medina, surrounded by its ramparts, and modern districts bringing together administrative services, hotels and a shopping centre. The city has also maintained a certain reputation as a holy city; it is still considered as the spiritual capital of the country. Religious festivals there exude a particular charm and are celebrated enthusiastically. The nights during the month of Ramadan are memorable. Every year, the city celebrates the official ceremony of Mouled (anniversary of the Prophet’s

birth), which is held at the Great Mosque and the tomb of Sidi-Saheb, companion of the Prophet. For this occasion, the city attracts a considerable crowd of Tunisian and foreign visitors.

Kairouan also means tradition. This tradition has helped to maintain a flourishing craft sector. The city’s many souks specialise in different branches of activities: the wool souk, one selling woven cloth, leather, carvings, carpets (where carpets are still sold at auction)... These souks occupy the centre of the medina, but other craft activities referred to as “dirty” are placed outside the walls, such as that at Nhaiçia, boilermakers, tinners and dyers. But the most developed activity involves carpets, employing a basically female workforce.

Kairouan carpets are famous throughout the world. The city carries on other craft activities which are also renowned. This is the case with traditional dress like the jebba, the pure wool burnous, the hayek (female veil), wash cloths, horse saddles, etc...

Finally, Kairouan is also an ancestral culinary centre; the Makroudh, the different types of bread, fritters with honey and couscous with lamb are some examples revealing the richness of this Kairouan cuisine.

architecture because of its monuments (just over a hundred), its souks, its houses and the streets, which are still an eloquent witness to its prestigious past.

Kairouan is nicknamed the city “of three hundred mosques”. Despite the many changes of use of the disappearance of a good number of these places of workshop (there are currently no more than 66, of which 4 are mosques and 62 mesjeds), Kairouan Medina is full of little old local oratories, most of them bearing the name of their original founder: mesjed Attallah, mesjed Trad, mesjed Abi ­Maysara, mesjed al-Houbouli, etc ...

To these places of worship are added about fifty zaouias: tombs where illustrious figures from the city are buried. Twentyfour monuments have been classified into successive waves since the beginning of this century. The monuments form the most important remains of the Kairouan school, which inspired and served as a model for buildings constructed throughout the western Islamic zone for several centuries. They form an integral part of the Medina and their preservation necessarily involves the conservation of their architectural and urban surroundings with which they are closely linked.

Kairouan Medina forms a real living museum of Arab-Muslim art and

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2. The city of Kairouan

The Great Mosque

This wealth of architecture explains why Kairouan Medina was, on 9 December 1988, classified by UNESCO on the world heritage list, meeting five of the six evaluation criteria.

2.3 Architectural characteristics of the Medina Kairouan Medina is a trapezoid-shaped urban site measuring 52ha, with an average length of 1000m and an average width of 500m, dimensions of the main axes of the city, established along NorthSouth and East-West orientations.

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The ramparts

The Medina has a structuring axis running in the North-South direction, the Rue du 7 Novembre, markedly off-centre towards the West, linking the two main gates of the city and giving access to the souks at the heart of the urban fabric. The network of streets in the Medina shows a clear predominance of East-West (longitudinal) streets. The main streets show branches, with some finishing as dead-ends. The road structure increasingly branches in the approach to the Great Mosque.

Observation of the full-empty ratio in Kairouan Medina shows an absolute dominance of the full, which characterises traditional Arab-Muslim fabrics. It is a

fabric with particularly marked density.

The voids consist of the courtyards of the houses, the streets and dead ends and of squares of all sizes.

The courtyards are of a relatively large size and represent the most perceptible part of the void, while public spaces appear particularly scarce. Squares, or at least spaces that have not been built on, are concentrated on the fringes of the urban fabric, in the north and east of the city and around the Great Mosque. Inside the fabric itself, one, single square stands out in the heart of the Medina, the Place Jraba, which forms an integral part of the souks.

2. The city of Kairouan

In the peripheral areas of the urban fabric, the squares appear as residual spaces (no function of their own, no structured form), except for the Place Ghassela, whose ancient role as the place for washing the sheep’s feet means that, even today, it is still a very well known public square.

“Houmet El Bey”, “Houmet Essdedma...”.

These houses are sometimes “dar”, houses with courtyards, with or without an upper floor and joined together, or sometimes “ali”, independent apartments located above other accommodation or shops, or “makhzen” (warehouses).

As for the “full”, this is made up of groundfloor or G+1 constructions in almost equal proportions. This “full” is formed by various housing blocks with courtyards joined to one another, structured around a central mass consisting of the souks.

Housing represents almost 80% of the urban fabric of the Medina. For the Medina as a whole, 1340 homes have been counted, of which almost 300 include a first floor (ali). The average surface area of the houses would be of the order of 285m2, with huge courtyards, whose most common size would vary between 75 and 125m2.

The Medina is made up of several “houma” (districts), such as “Houmet Eljemâa”,

Dar Bouras

Dar Mrabet

Alley with a round arch

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2. The city of Kairouan

Rue du 7 novembre

The main artery and major business centre, the “souk� (now called the Rue due 7 Novembre) links the two main gates of the city: the Jalledines gate and the Tunis gate. Despite its width and length (around 425 metres), its irregularity offers beautiful visual sequences and dynamic, constantly changing views.

The streets of the Medina are between 3 and 5m wide and the buildings alongside them reach either ground-floor or firstfloor level, in almost equal proportions.

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Rue des Trois portes

The streets are dotted with architectural landmarks like the minaret of a mesjed, the way a corner is resolved, a Sabat, often marking the transition between the different types of streets and squares.

The dead ends represent the transition between the public space (the street) and the private space (the home) and are considered as the immediate extension of the Driba or Skifa (entrance hall). A dead end street can have two or even three bends and they are often less than a metre wide. The largest house is found

at the end of a dead-end street, with more modest homes in front of it. However, the systematic establishment of large houses along the main streets is a characteristic of the Kairouan Medina.

In the heart of the Medina and at the centre of all the activities, the souks form the largest mass of urban fabric. Running at right-angles to the main artery of Rue 7 Novembre where the essential shops and boutiques are crowded, the covered souks (carpet souk, perfume souk, blaghgia

2. The city of Kairouan

Sidi Sahid Mausoleum

souk...) extend as far as the Place Jraba, which accommodates the weavers’ shops.

In the style of all the traditional Arab-Muslim urban fabric, the spatial hierarchisation that characterises the organisation of the different urban components of the Medina offers residents and visitors great sequential richness and views which are particularly lively because of the architectural vocabulary and elements used and because of the succession of areas of light and shade. From a

morphological point of view, Kairouan Medina is characterised by various original aspects: • the spatial separation between the souks and the Great Mosque.

• the functional and spatial importance of its commercial axis.

• the partial hierarchisation of its streets and the compactness of its fabric.

2.4 Types of houses The typology of the traditional Kairouan house is adapted to the climate, the family structure, the way of life and the social traditions of the local population.

This typology is supported by the fundamental principle of the intimacy of the home compared to the space outside. This principal is at the route of the introverted form of the traditional home, shown in the organisation of the house around a central courtyard or patio

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2. The city of Kairouan

and a narrow entrance with one or more transition areas between the street and the courtyard (skifa and driba).

the Allanis..., and the modest house corresponds to the normal homes of ordinary people of Kairouan.

Kairouan houses are generally made up of the following elements: Narrow entrance

The typology of the Kairouan house can be subdivided into three types of home corresponding to the hierarchy of social classes, running from the large mansion to the modest house: The large mansions belong to aristocratic families, such as the Bourases, the Mrabets...; the middle class house belongs to the great traders, men of literature and science and legal men, such as the Rammehs,

Dar Bouras

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The organisation goes against all principles of social segregation. The great mansions stand next to modest houses.

Quite unusually, the large mansions are located on the edges of the blocks and their façades give directly on to their main streets and squares. The architectural wealth of their façades (number, carving and handling of openings, use of moucharabieh...) contrast with the sobriety of the almost blind façades of the ordinary homes standing beside them.

Courtyard

The narrow entrance consists of one or more separation screens between the indoor and outdoor worlds. In the large mansions, the driba is the first distribution room found when opening the entrance door (beb eddar) allowing access to a second space, the skifa, to the first floor el ali, to the makhzen and to the servants’ quarters.

2. The city of Kairouan

Courtyard All the spaces in the house are organised around a central courtyard where a large part of the family’s activities are carried out. The courtyard, usually paved with blocks of sawen, allows air and light into the spaces inside the house. The classical façade of a courtyard on the living room side, is made up of a framed central door flanked by two windows, making a symmetrical composition. In the space of the courtyard one almost always finds the cistern, el mejel, to collect rainwater, the well - el bir, accessible from the kitchen and the first floor and el âssar, a wooden rod fixed to one of the courtyard façades, used for hanging washing.

There are three or four living rooms organised around the courtyard, on to which they directly lead. These rooms may be simply rectangular or with a more elaborate T shape. The latter types are called mejless.

The mejless or bit ras ed-dar

Generally facing east or south-east, the mejless is the main room of the house.

It is subdivided into several sub-spaces: three alcoves and two mini-rooms, the maksouras. The middle alcove, called the kbou or rutba is used by the family for

sitting. Two arches open into the side alcoves, bit hajjem, with beds or serir surmounted by a sedda or mestrak used for storage. The ceiling of the mejless in the large mansions is in wood decorated with floral motifs, while the internal walls are covered by ceramic tiles.

for food commodities are placed in the dehliz, benefiting from its almost constant ambient temperature so that they can be kept all year. From the courtyard, access can also be gained, via a marble slab, to an underground matmoura, where the bharat (spices) and grain are stored, before bringing them up to the hri.

The ardhi or bit ed diwan The hri This is a rectangular room, sometimes with a central alcove less important than the one in the bit ras ed-dar. Its shape is particularly longitudinal (its length is much greater than its width). It serves as a bedroom but also as a sitting room, bit kaâd, for the mistress of the house. She usually spends her time there.

Naouela or dwiria These are two synonyms designating the kitchen and its annexes, including a corner for preparation or oujak, cupboards for food, toilets and a washroom (mathara).

Light and air for the dwiria is achieved via a lantern or madhoua, located at the key to the cross vault generally covering the food preparation area.

The dehliz and the matmoura Generally paved with chaouat slabs and lit by offset openings. Huge storage jars

This consists of several rooms succeeding one another located on the first floor and set aside for the storage and drying of wool and bharat, as well as grain. El hri is specific to the large mansions and middleclass houses. The height to the ceiling of this space never exceeds 2.1o metres and the ceiling is in oud el ârâr. Light and air is brought in to the hri via small openings in the form of embrasures. The commodities are brought up to the hri using a pulley system (jarrar) fixed to a large opening overlooking the courtyard. .

Ali This is the name given to the apartments on the first floor, reserved for the master of the house and for guests. El ali is made up of one or more rooms and even a mejless aloui reserved exclusively for the master when he retires. In the large mansions, this mejless is provided with two windows and

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2. The city of Kairouan

The hri

a moucharabieh gannaria overlooking the neighbouring terraces and offering the master a panoramic view of the city. Also on the first floor can be found the guests’ apartment – bit ou dar eddhiafa – and the servants’ quarters next to the hri.

2.5 Construction methods Traditional techniques and construction materials appear as follows:

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The mejless

The foundations are made of nisf, a mixture of large fragments of brick with sand and lime compressed using a wooden ram.

Siflani, a kind of waste ash from the brick kilns surrounding the city is placed at the level of the foundations to ensure dampproofing.

For the first courses of the wall, largesized cut stones (recovered from ancient buildings) are used. The construction is continued in baked bricks (or in nisf) made

in the kilns surrounding the city. The mortar joining the bricks and stones consists of clay mixed with lime. The buildings are whitewashed with distilled lime, ensuring long-term protection against damp.

The first types of roofs are with cross vaults or barrel vaults and domes built on drums. Wood was rarely used for roofs.

For the construction of the Great Mosque, timber imported from Sicily was used.

Later, cedar wood was used for covering

2. The city of Kairouan

the most important parts of the house, essentially for the Mejles. From the end of the 17th century onwards and during the 18th century, many wooden ceilings were modelled and painted in the North African style. For more modest homes, juniper wood is generally used for the roofs.

The traditional construction method involves continuous maintenance to repair the coverings with mortar and limewash. Many mansions do not have stone foundations. The use of clay as mortar makes the structures fragile and liable to rising damp.

2.6 Kairouan architectural vocabulary The architectural repertoire of Kairouan is distinguished by the following elements: • Horseshoe and broken arches • Dome on octagonal drum and with a ribbed or rounded cap • Ceilings in wood with joists • Machrabiyas • Cross and barrel vaults • Houses with central courtyards • Walls covered in plaster or ceramics

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value of traditional architectural heritage, knowledge acquired thanks to the previous project, CORPUS. Reinforcing renovation activity takes on a particular significance in as far as it concerns a subsector with great economic potential that is an indicator of clear development. We must not forget that in Europe investment in renovation and maintenance of buildings amounts to 50% of construction sector activity, while in the countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean this activity does not even reach 10%.

3.1 The aims of RehabiMed The RehabiMed project is part of the European Commission’s Euromed Heritage programme. This is a cultural programme begun following the EuroMediterranean Conference in Barcelona in 1995, in order to create a collaboration space for the countries on the shores of the Mediterranean. Within this international context and thanks to an ambitious programme, RehabiMed has set the objective for its actions as the reinforcement of renovation activity as a factor for sustainable development in all Mediterranean countries. The starting point was a good knowledge of the

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The value of these actions has a double significance: firstly, it contributes to improving the living surroundings of residents and, secondly, it preserves the historical and cultural identity of the traditional architectural heritage, which increases in value every day. This is living heritage, and even more important if the building in question houses several families and stands in the heart of the modern town. Such heritage is also under strong economic and social pressure and, at the same time, shows difficulties in meeting modern housing needs.

RehabiMed’s objective is therefore to find a way and to establish a method establishing the balance between improving the living

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surroundings of residents and preserving heritage, taking into account the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social and environmental). From this perspective, some thought must always be given to all agents involved in the renovation and their participation (political leaders/decisionmakers, the wide range of professionals involved and the residents).

When it came to drawing up the content of the RehabiMed project in 2001, four renovation vectors were retained: Renovation and urban landscape (Lefkara, Cyprus); Renovation and craftspeople (Cairo, Egypt); Renovation and sustainable tourism (Kairouan, Tunisia) and Renovation and social action (Marrakech, Morocco).

The method proposed by RehabiMed considers the renovation of traditional architecture in the context of a process of revitalising and regenerating the area. It is, moreover, an intervention on the physical environment and on the people it houses, ensuring its coherent adaptation to the needs of modern life. Renovation must be a slow, planned transformation process, with medium- and long-term objectives. From a technical point of view, the RehabiMed Method proposes the ordering and systemisation of the stages of the renovation process (orientation, diagnosis, strategy, action and follow-up), with the identification of the tools and instruments to be considered (technical, administrative and legal) for managing and developing them. And, at the same time it provides criteria for helping with reflection on the problems and strategies to be put in place to ensure the success of the process.

3.2 Cultural tourism in Kairouan Kairouan appears among the cities that pioneered cultural tourism in Tunisia. The Okba mosque has always impressed foreign visitors, painters and writers. The most illustrious of them, Guy de Maupassant, wrote in 1899: “The unique harmony of this temple comes from the proportion and number of these light columns that support the building; they fill it, populate it and make it what it is, creating its grace and its grandeur. Their coloured multitude gives the eye the impression there is no limit, while the low extension of the building gives the soul a sensation of weight.” Meanwhile, Paul Klee marvelled at the city, writing in 1914: “Kairouan – not an isolated impression but a whole. The thousand-and-one nights, such a penetrating and intoxicating aroma, elucidating at the same time...”

Moreover, at the start of international tourism in Tunisia at the beginning of the

20th century, Kairouan appeared among the most important destinations and stages on the itineraries of groups of tourists coming to Tunisia. So, in 1951, of 73,000 tourists who visited Tunisia, 15,000 went to Kairouan. After the explosion of seaside and beach tourism, its decline became alarming, from the ‘90s onwards.

So, the number of tourists buying tickets to visit the city’s monuments moved from 264,000 in 1975 to 243,000 in 1995, while the number of tourists visiting Tunisia tripled. This alarming situation led to a reconsideration among the public authorities, with the establishment of an ambitious strategy to promote cultural tourism in Kairouan and make it one of the pillars of the economic development of the city. So, at a ministerial council devoted to the Kairouan region and held in June 2004, the President of the Republic ordered the carrying out of a study of cultural tourism in Kairouan.

This favourable context explains the decision that the Rehabimed project should carry out a pilot action devoted to Tunisia on the theme: “Renovation and sustainable tourism in Kairouan”. After agreement with the regional authorities and the representatives of several associations, it was decided that the pilot action should be devoted to reorganising and renovating the Place Jraba.

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3.3 The renovation of the Place Jraba Nowadays, historic centres are undergoing a real revolution in methods of occupying urban space. The destruction of local urban and architectural mechanisms, accompanied nowadays by great demographic pressure, generate sometimes alarming new situations requiring the establishment of actions and the definition of fast and effective strategies for interventions, preservation and development. These actions should make it possible to introduce a fertile dynamic likely to ensure the development of new economic activities such as tourism. Today, these activities form an important source of income with a positive effect on heritage. Based on this, one of the first priorities should be to ensure preservation of these remains and to begin development actions looking after the conservation and revitalisation of tourist sites, considered as having great tourism potential, to be exploited very carefully, in a proper, measured way.

The nature of the Kairouan medina in terms of culture and tourism, and particularly the Place Jraba, must be reinforced. Taking into account the culture involved means preserving the important characteristics of the historic centre, a meeting place par excellence for

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all expressions of culture. So, preserving the architectural character of squares and historic districts must not block the real development of the city. Sight must not be lost of the fact that this is a living city, playing an important economic and social role, which must be reinforced by a new role concerning tourism.

Reconciling the cultural and economic issues must be translated into a relative interest shaping a programme to enliven

the Place Jraba, which must make it a competitive urban space capable of offering its residents benefits equivalent to those they could find elsewhere and acting as node in the tourist circuit linking the southern gate of the city with the Great Mosque. This is the basis of our reorganisation and revitalisation project.

This conciliation is not easy to achieve.

It is complex and delicate and involves intervention on an ancient fabric full of history.

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Inauguration of RehabiMed seminar

So, giving more weight to cultural and tourist issues could block the adaptation of the square to the needs of everyday life. Conversely, stressing the objective of revitalising the square without taking the necessary precautions and control methods could, in time, see the character of the square and its immediate surroundings lost and end us disfiguring the stock of buildings we are seeking to preserve.

For this reason, the reorganisation and revitalisation of Place Jraba must take into account the objectives of improving the building stock, seeking to maintain the level of activity characteristic of an

Inauguration of the exhibition “Living in the Mediterranean”

important square in Kairouan Medina and integrating it into the tourism circuit, the main way of developing new activities in Kairouan Medina.

3.4 Seminar: Renovation and sustainable tourism in Kairouan From 19 to 26 June a Rehabimed seminar took place in the city of Kairouan entitled: Renovation and sustainable tourism. It was the 4th seminar held by Rehabimed and its basic aim was to analyse the way that the systemisation of interventions on traditional heritage intended for tourism management were

coexisting with traditions and allowing sustainable development respecting the environment.

Those at the conference – experts in renovation of traditional architecture – were explained both the methodology and the analysis of the works carried out in Tunisia.

This seminar also made it possible to draw up a draft study concerning the reorganisation of the Place Jraba, the pilot operation.

Linked to the seminar and basically intended to raise the awareness of the

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population, the exhibition: Living in the Mediterranean was organised in Kairouan before touring other Tunisian towns and cities.

It was reorganised at the beginning of the 20th century. Some shops were demolished and the square was expanded. It then became a node linking the main arteries at the heart of the medina.

3.5. Place Jraba

This area, the subject of our intervention, covers an area of 1000m2 and brings together important facilities: a mosque, a dispensary, souks, the Mosque of the Three Gates and the Moulay Taieb mausoleum.

The Place Jraba has a historic air, playing the role of shopping centres, with the shops of weavers, wool spinners and dyers.

The craftsmans of Jraba square

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Since 1995, the entire artery linking the southern gate of the medina to the Great Mosque, constituting one of the most important tourist circuits in the medina, more than 800m long, has been renovated and reorganised. Its faรงades have been renovated, the electrical and telephone networks buried, the ground paved, some houses restored and direction signs put in place.

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Location map

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Only the Place Jraba, which occupies a central position within the circuit, has been left out. Even worse, a similar renovation scheme, financed by a loan from the World Bank, concerning the arteries running alongside the Great Mosque and other zones of the medina, has been abandoned, despite their importance and strategic position.

Thisoperationcoversallkindsofinterventions likely to be undertaken in the medina concerning access, activities, beautification, housing and the environment.

On the basis of a general diagnosis of the square and its surroundings, we established the main problems requiring intervention and proceeded to define a reorganisation plan which we have succeeded in putting into practice, making it possible to ensure the proper operation of the square and an improvement of its appearance, which has recovered its previous vitality and dynamism.

3.5.1 Purpose of the study The purpose of the reorganisation study of the Place Jraba is to propose to the authorities an operational programme for developing, reorganising and renovating it.

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The main tasks are defined as follows: • Assessment of the extent and nature of the problems affecting the square. • Identification of a set of actions required to respond to the various problems affecting the Place Jraba. • Proposal for a coherent approach for the revitalisation and development of the square.

3.5.2 The intervention scheme This involves integrating the square into the tourist circuit of the Kairouan Medina (from Bab Jalladine to the Great Mosque Okba Ibn Nafaa). The aim is to confirm its role as a body linking the different tourist circuits crossing the Medina, essentially the itinerary connecting the Great Mosque with the traditional souks.

The Place Jraba should serve as a point of attraction, a pleasant stopping place marked by the presence of an existing traditional cafe, the restoration of souvenir shops, the establishment of a ceramic sign board making sure the tourists are directed to the different historic monuments of the Medina and also the reorganisation of the weaving shops, the manufacture of traditional gloves and the making up of traditional costume, in order to encourage craftspeople.

The reorganisation strategy we adopted was simple and credible to manage the anticipation in a positive sense in order to prevent degradation that could kill the character of the square, and instead make it into an interesting place, a potential space reinvested with new functions capable of revitalising and creating rampant dynamism.

The strategy we applied includes simultaneous actions detailed as follows: 1. The improvement of accessibility, which is the basis for the development of the urban fabric. The solutions we adopted for the introduction of car traffic in the square are subtle ones. This has made it possible to prevent the square becoming uncomfortable because of traffic, without, however, isolating it. The pairing of these two functions requires a technical effort to achieve the important reconciliation that has made it possible to avoid conflict between pedestrians and vehicle traffic.

2. The control and guidance of economic activities made it possible to keep only those compatible with the square, in order to ensure the improvement of public and environmental services (water, sewerage, lighting, domestic refuse collection)

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3. The enrichment of the urban space is one of our first concerns. In fact, the aim of our actions is to ameliorate the deterioration of the appearance of the square and its immediate environment.

We agreed a particular interest in the aesthetic repertoire of the architectural elements involved in the design of urban spaces and which must not be disturbed, but rather completed by new interventions. Under no circumstances must any intervention cause a rupture; on the contrary, a direct comparison must be made between the historical situation and the current state. The new interventions must be measured so they can be integrated into the existing structure.

4. Heritage conservation, particularly through the restoration, reuse, recovery and renovation of monuments.

5. The establishment of signs for the tourist circuit.

These five themes form the skeleton of a strategy that guided the spirit of our intervention. They represent the entire reorganisation and revitalisation for the Place Jraba.

Because of its strategic position in the middle of a great artery, running from

Sidi Abid to the Great Mosque (the great tourist circuit of the Medina), the Place Jraba is provided with exceptional status, allowing it to occupy a select place in the definition of an important tourism halt.

Then, the installation of leisure facilities, a cafe, a large terrace and shady areas, associated with the ambiance of the square, encourages the arrival of visitors who now take advantage of the peacefulness of the square which has been made possible by:

• The restoration of shops.

• The articulation between the focal point, which is the Place Jraba, and the different circuits.

• Raising the status of the square so it becomes a point of interaction.

• The encouragement and development of crafts.

3.5.3 Methodology and means of intervention We proceeded in the following way to carry out our proposed reorganisation

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passage towards the different points of Kairouan medina, has been subject to an assessment that allowed us to spell out effective actions, to achieve solutions, to organise repertoires, like the stress in a composition – the insertion and integration of a public building into a block, the consideration of a system of operation in order to attempt to hide and mask the gaps of recent constructions, to succeed in re-establishing the lost balance and to bring life back to the square making a true resurrection possible.

At a second phase, we tried to assimilate the principles of organisation, the composition of traditional façades forming the reference model for future interventions.

and renovation of the façades in the Place Jraba: In a first phase, we went ahead with a detailed analysis concerning the buildings, the housing and the facilities overlooking the square, taking into account the links connecting the various components of the square and their organisation into an overall structure. What provides the specificity of traditional urban organisation.

The specific analysis of this part of Kairouan Medina was approached:

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• As a whole that had to be observed, cut up, organised and recomposed.

• As a set of elements that needed to be recognised, reassembled and articulated.

The spirit of our intervention is located in the comings and goings between these two points of view. It is this reading that has allowed us to define the links, the limits and all the possibilities offered by our intervention space.

At a first phase, this place, a structuring space used for parking and necessary

A detailed diagnosis of all the situations has allowed interventions that can ensure the stability and the preservation of the appearance of the square and finally ameliorate the negative situations disfiguring its general appearance.

The technical solutions we succeeded in putting into practice are compatible with traditional construction techniques, observed in the course of our analysis, reading and understanding of the mechanisms structuring the traditional space of Kairouan Medina.

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Part of the ancient heart of Kairouan, Place Jraba is next to the souk of the Jerbans, who were famous for their work in weaving Kairouan woollen bedcovers, as well as black washcloths.

Nowadays, the souk has lost this specialisation and now sells craft products demanded by tourist activity. There are currently some weaving workshops in the immediate surroundings of the square.

Nearer to the souk, the square occupies an important site including landmark monuments, including the Ibn Khayroun or Three Gates Mosque, which it directly adjoins, the Sidi Abid el Ghariania zaouia and Bir Barouta. Even the Great Mosque is only a few minutes walk away.

Once in the square, you can find a dispensary, weaving workshops and shops providing various services: (hairdresser, greengrocer, taxi-phone, motorcycle repair...) and an electricity transformer occupying a focal point.

Apart from one side, the square is surrounded by buildings whose façades show no architectural or historical interest.

The degraded state of the ground and the unhealthiness of the place (nauseating odours and rubbish) denote a state of abandonment, poor exploitation and

disorder. The outstanding problems are summarised as follows: • Façades where the architectural language is foreign to the local style.

• Absence of paving.

• Incompatible commercial activities.

• Mixed pedestrian and vehicle activity.

• In itself, the electrical transformer poses a problem concerning its connections, its purpose and its ugly architectural expression.

Our observations led us to consider the outstanding problems by category of intervention. The following situations can be distinguished: The buildings • Recent volumes without real historical interest showing poor, ugly architectural expression from the point of view of proportion, style and layout.

• Volumes making up the ancient fabric but showing architectural elements as inappropriate as the above ones.

The ground • Ground which is unpaved and shows no traces demonstrating its authenticity.

• The platform is not delimited.

The street furniture • Mediocre signing (writing on walls, metal boards...)

• Absence of street lighting • Absence of protection from the sun.

3.5.4 The operations carried out: The operations we carried out touched on the following levels: The buildings • An intervention on the recent buildings proceeding to remodel the volumes when necessary and recompose the architectural elements, which are replaced by Kairouan elements and prototypes.

• An intervention not touching the volumes judged to be coherent, but concerning only the architectural elements, replaced by the chosen prototypes. Other elements will contribute to beautifying the façades.

The ground • Drawing up a paving plan formed by modules making it possible to geometrise and make perceptible the size of the square, leading to a better distribution and organisation of the activities carried out there.

• The plan also programmes the introduction of an architectural

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element, a sculpture installed in tune with the place in order to mark its central nature.

• Away from the traffic, the square can be used for cultural and tourist activities held in light structures whose support elements are established in the paving plan.

The street furniture • New signing is proposed in tune with the spirit of the square.

• Lighting elements for the square are

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inserted so as to be discreet, achieving sufficient light for lighting the square and being able to use it at night.

• Night-time shows are planned to ensure tourist entertainment, such as the celebration of the festival of light.

• Covers linking the volumes surrounding the little access alleys to the square are conceived in the form of fully vaulted arches.

• One of the two large accesses is provided with a cover in the form of a pergola made up of wooden joists in

the image of that of the great road of the souks. The other access is covered by a masonry sabbat linked to the other volumes to announce the square.

3.5.5 Usages and building height plan: The consideration of the different demands drawn up following the elaboration of the survey to assess the importance of the Place Jraba in Kairouan Medina, as well as spreading interest in the operations carried out to renovate the square, led us

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to propose the appropriate usages of the renovated spaces.

In a place judged favourable for the integration and acceptance of a new intervention, we were led to seek to recreate the lost aesthetic order in order to reconcile this urban whole with the whole of Kairouan Medina.

So the F1 façade, on the weavers’ souk side, and that of section F3, on the electrical transformer side, were respectively altered in our study into a series of shops fronted by a long portico and, in place of the transformer, shops and a tourism sign board.

The wooden portico installed in front of the shops contributes to raising the standard of the place, which had very poorly considered, and giving it a consistent architectural expression, ensuring the preservation of the site and its future spirit.

Certain activities, such as the repair of motorcycles and the sale of vegetables (which unless they are submitted to rules concerning hygiene and strict presentation of merchandise) are considered as polluting activities and require a new use.

In addition, with a view to providing the square with a cultural character, it is proposed to associate a cyber cafe and

an art gallery with its activities, without, however, removing the popular imprint from the place. We therefore thought it useful to establish Ouled el Gabsia, Leblabi specialists and sellers of fritters there.

Our concept of the place may seem unrealistic, but we are convince of the feasibility of the project which, beyond the architectural design, is intended to establish collective awareness of the importance of the square and the ancient fabric in general.

3.5.6 Alterations carried out The eleven actions carried out are as follows: • Creation of a pergola 4.50m long from end to end marking the importance of the passage leading to the cafe and the souks and creating a large shaded area.

• Elimination of the transformer by demolition in order to open up the square and ensure that the Mosque of the Three Gates is visible.

• Planting of 4 palm trees and a group of bougainvillea bushes to reinforce the greenery of the square.

• Redesign of the occupation of the dispensary façade to make an attractive entrance similar to that of Moulay Taeib.

• Creation of a repetitive module structuring the understanding of the paved surface of the square.

• Establishment of directional signs, with a map indicating the main points to visit and information about the main monuments in the adjacent area.

• Establishment of a pavement running along the south-east and south-west of the small square.

• Proposal of vertical elements to punctuate the space of the square, serving as a support for appropriate lighting.

• The building in the north-east (Zouabi property) required particular interest.

The usage proposed is to organise tourist shops with a view to enlivening the square.

3.5.7 Description of the works Drawing up a detailed diagnosis was a fundamental stage in providing a proper basis for all the actions undertaken.

Along these lines, we succeeded in locating the critical points and situations that required a somewhat quicker and more urgent intervention, and also the objectives that had to respect the economic and social conditions with a view to creating dynamism around Place Jraba.

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Different study perspectives of the project for reorganise Plaรงa Jraba

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This was possible after drawing up a detailed action plan spelling out the operations and the phases of implementation and the order of synchronisation of each action programmed and carried out.

This reflection concerning the establishment of a scenario has made it possible to define the phases of implementation relating to the particular nature of the area of intervention.

Given the pressure concerning the time taken for implementation, we proceeded to define an action plan that was put into practice by into consideration two areas: the first concerns the continuation of the treatment of the ground after paving to the implementation and installation of street furniture and the second focuses its interest on aspects relating to the renovation of façades.

The buildings The plan below presents and details the division and delimitation of the sections, which are linked by an organisational logic (linking criteria connected to implementation, organisation of the façade, its orientation and state of preservation). This division has allowed us to list four areas of intervention on buildings:

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• • • •

Weavers’ souks sector: F 1 Dispensary sector: F 2 Ibn Khayroun II mosque sector: F 3 Rue Khadraouin sector: F 4

The actions carried out Weavers’ souks sector: This area is made up of two independent bodies separated by a wide passage opening into a square that brings together the majority of the weavers’ shops.

The body is made up of a ground floor grouping four poorly maintained shops.

The works carried out consisting of the replacement of all carpentry showing signs of advanced degradation and that which is not compatible with the characteristic language of Kairouan Medina. The partial replacement of roofs proved necessary given the problems of leaks observed during the creation and replacement of the parapet. A wooden gallery makes it possible to enrich the sequence as a whole by introducing a new element of architectural vocabulary.

A well-decorated portico was installed in order to introduce a new element capable of creating an area of shadow and uniting all the shops.

The large building is considered as an intruder in the urban landscape of the

square as its excessive height exceeds 15m and leads to a visual imbalance and the absence of articulation between the two bodies. The action carried out at this level is intended to re-establish the balance between the two volumes. The proposition corrected with much redrafting approached the definition of a pergola ensuring a link between the two buildings and promoting the creation of an area of shadow. The building itself was taken back to the ground floor with the construction of an incipient gallery (see model) correcting the presence of an overhang over the road which was poorly structured and which broke with the architectural vocabulary of the Medina. On the first floor, a treatment of the facing in Kairouan solid bricks has made it possible to soften the effect of height and ensure a new appreciation of this building in the urban landscape of the square.

Dispensary sector: The programmed action consists of proceeding with a new composition of the architectural elements in order to give it a new, coherent and harmonious image. The demolition of the existing fence has made it possible to extend the dispensary entrance. Access, ensured by a large entrance porch similar to that of the Moulay Taieb mausoleum, has taken on the importance of an entrance to a public space.

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Ibn Khayroun IIÂ mosque sector The presence of the electricity transformer occupying a strategic point of the square without any concern for connections with the urban fabric formed an intrusive element disfiguring the Place Jraba as a whole. Its demolition has provided a new view of the square and a new functionality.

The shops around the transformer were disused and their roofs had collapsed, but everything has been reconditioned.

The establishment of signs occupying the place of the transformer has made it possible to establish a new attraction integrated into the general spirit of the square.

Rue Khadraouin sector The shops used as grocers and overlooking the square, had strange metal openings out of keeping with the architectural language of the Medina. The operation carried out has consisted of replacing the carpentry and repairing the rendering that was sometimes deteriorated over a large part of the façade.

The ground The Place Jraba measures 1000m². It is a platform for meeting and communication totally neglected through the absence of an organisation to manage the flow of pedestrians and vehicles. This space,

which could form a really pleasant stopping place for tourists to enjoy, is sadly in a state of total abandonment and does not promote any desire to stay there, despite its excellent position in the middle of the great artery linking Sidi Abid to the Great Mosque of Kairouan. We have paved the square in order to allow it to be brought back up to standard and to attempt to remove all the inconveniences we have already mentioned. The paving consists of a square module separated by smooth slabs and filled in with hard cut stones called Jars.

This action was undertaken in order to endow the square with a federative role, bringing together all consumers of the Medina space (residents and visitors).

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Faรงade 1

Before the action

During the action

After the finishing

During the action

After the finishing

Faรงade 2

Before the action

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Faรงade 3

Before the action

During the action

After the finishing

During the action

After the finishing

Faรงade 4

Before the action

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4. Results of the pilot operation

The Place Jraba is now a preferred passage in the heart of the Medina and a key element in the tourist circuit linking the souks to the Great Mosque. The square has been re-enlivened. Many abandoned shops are reopening their doors with renewed hopes in order to take part in economic and commercial activity in the square. A hairdresser, weavers and sellers of fabrics have re-established themselves.

Shop rents are going up and craftspeople are beginning to become more hopeful.

Contacts have already been established with the postal services to set up a post office and currency exchange unit there.

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The people of Kairouan and neighbours of the square already believe that the action to renovate the Place Jraba is the most successful action ever undertaken in Kairouan. Tourists are beginning to stop there and contemplate the architectural beauty of the sites.

The action is a good example of co- operation between different administrations. The heads of the Ministry of Health are very sensitive and have taken part in the success of the scheme in accepting the proposed reorganisations and participating financially in the

4. Results of the pilot operation

Children consciousness raising to the project and competition painting

renovation of the dispensary façade.

The electricity company quickly realised the need to eliminate the transformer disfiguring the square. They provided their technical know-how and agreed to move the transformer to premises offered by the city council, which has unceasingly supported the scheme and raised the population’s awareness of the need to follow it through.

The breadth of the works has been a criterion that has also made it possible to encourage owners to begin operations motivated by the new attraction of the

Place Jraba. The Boudidah family have seized the opportunity to raise the height of their building, following the advice of the project team, who drew up the technical dossier. The Zouabi family has entrusted the Medina Association with the task of renovating their property overlooking the square with traditional materials, paying the entire cost of the works. This synergy of actions and agents has made the reorganisation of the Place Jraba an example of sustainable development in which heritage is a key element.

4.1 Event for children of the district “In the footsteps of the great painters” The awareness-raising activity carried out in Kairouan has been carried out with a double objective: disseminating the quality of the graphic documentation of the city of Kairouan through the paintings created by Paul Klee (1879-1940); August Macke (1887-1914) and Louis Moillet (1880-1962), as well as the advertising posters generated during the 20th century to promote and develop children’s’ ways of looking at their heritage and tourism, through a painting competition. With the

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4. Results of the pilot operation

dossier provided, the children could see the views of the foreign artists who visited the country and painted the city for the first time in 1914 and gain access to a more institutional view aimed at future visitors.

The Plaça Jraba in the middle of the renovation process, was the place chosen to carry out this activity and what the children had to put in their paintings was their most immediate environment.

During the hours of the competition some parents, the organisers and the people living and working immediately around the square collaborated with their presence and their comments on how the day was going. It was surprising that very few tourists passed through the square during this time, confirming once again that, although Kairouan is a legendary city which not only preserves its beauty and harmony but also maintains strong vitality, the hundreds of tourists who visit it still follow a very restricted route. In their visit to the city, lasting a few hours, they visit the Great Abbasid Mosque and take part in the ritual of carpet sales in one of the legendary bazaars. The view of the artist, the pilgrim to the holy city or the researcher visiting the city for the first time and wanting to get to know one of the legendary sites of Islam and an enviable heritage are now far away.

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The children’s paintings make us reflect in this sense. They also perceive the city through the presence of the Great Mosque, giving it an almost absolute leading role in their pictures. The monumental architecture continues to take absolute priority on their value scale and the rest of the traditional heritage merely provides the surroundings. If we also evaluate the presence of tourism in their composition, we reach the conclusion that, for the children, tourists are completely removed from their daily lives and are a totally anecdotic. The results of the educational and leisure activity must be channelled and mean that this type of activity must be promoted so that children, who are the future generations that are going to manage heritage, learn to value traditional heritage and cultural legacy in an overall way, to pass it on interactively and encourage respectful, sustainable tourism in the immediate future.

4. Results of the pilot operation

4.2 Impressions of certain people concerning the square

Noureddine Malouch, 50, tourism inspector This kind of scheme strengthens the World Bank projects carried out in Kairouan Medina concerning improving the architectural image and preserving our authenticity and it can create a balance in the tourism sector and revive the potential of the Medina.

Abdellatif Jaouadi, 42, manager of a cafe overlooking Place Jraba I can see this scheme is going to be a very important step in the strategy intended to save our architectural heritage and protect the soul of our medina. I like this style and it gives me the impression that the arcades are original ones.

Salah Jaouadi, 39, tradesman Really it was high time this type of scheme was carried out in the medina, and particularly in Place Jraba, which is one of the busiest areas.

It is certainly true that the atmosphere will be better and that we are moving towards a properly organised square.

Radhouane Hamzaoui, 48, seller of bicycle spare parts in Place Jraba.

It is a good idea to take an interest in this type of corner. I think this scheme is going to improve living conditions in the square.

This place will also become an attractive centre for tourist visits and it will perhaps attract a few more customers.

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4. Results of the pilot operation

Ibrahim Malouch, 65, former chairman of the municipal council for the medina.

When I was chairman of the municipal council, I tried to attract the attention in order to reorganise this site. Because of this, I appreciate this project reorganising this focus. The change touches many areas: economic, social, tourism and culture. This type of intervention must now be expanded throughout Kairouan Medina.

Naji Nasraoui, 44, craftsman making traditional dress (Jebbas) in Place Jraba I believe this scheme is going to change the appearance of the square. I like the style a lot because it reflects our identity thanks to the use of the most suitable materials.I would really like you to have established a fountain in the centre with benches around it. That way people could take a break right in the heart of the square.

Bachir Zaitre, 44, craftsman making traditional dress (Jebbas) in Place Jraba Frankly, I’m delighted someone has taken an interest in Place Jraba. This scheme is certainly going to develop the square and organise movements in the square.

Ahlem Mehdouani, 27, interior architect.

These traditional materials are the ones most suitable for our climate and I think this choice is the result of a deep enough reflection. I would like to use the square as a working support for fine arts and interior architecture students.

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Mostpha Houssine, 53, Mayor of Kairouan Medina.

I see this kind of scheme as very effective. First of all it helps us to solve problems relating to the Medina (traffic, renovation...). Then, it gives an example and an aesthetic image of our heritage that helps us bring in new visitors, in the knowledge that Kairouan will be an Islamic cultural capital in 2009.

4. Results of the pilot operation

Visit of the Cultural Minister to the comemorative monument of the operation and to the exhibition raised for it

4.3 Inauguration of Jraba Square Once all work to redevelop and rehabilitate Jraba Square was complete, the next stage was to publicize it. Leaflets, posters, postcards, calendars and, most importantly, an exhibition to explain the work had been designed and organized in the course of January 2008.

On Saturday 9 February 2008, Mohamed al-Aziz Ibn Achour, Minister for Culture and Heritage Protection, who announced the start of redevelopment work in January 2007, presided over the opening ceremony. This event marked

the culmination of the pilot operation implemented throughout 2007.

The ceremony was organized by the Institut National du Patrimoine and the Association de Sauvegarde de la MĂŠdina de Kairouan. Attending the event were Yassine Barbouch, Prefect of Kairouan; the Mayor, Mustapha Houcine, and Xavier Casanovas, coordinator of the RehabiMed Project, as well as representatives of the ministries responsible for heritage, housing and facilities, representatives of the Tunisian Government, and various local residents and noteworthy citizens.

During the opening ceremony, the Minister for Culture, Mohamed alAziz Ibn Achour, expressed his great satisfaction at the aim of protection pursued in the implementation of the project and its respect for Kairouan’s architecture and decorative repertoire.

After visiting the square, he spent some time at the exhibition presented by Rammah Mourad, Conservator of the Medina of Kairouan and coordinator of the RehabiMed Project in Tunisia. This exhibition outlines the different stages of the project and illustrates the evolution of work and its results. It also showed how RehabiMed set itself the objective

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4. Results of the pilot operation

The dwellers of the district participated to the inauguration acts and were interested in the evolution of the works

of transforming a traditional urban space into a hub of tourist routes, with a view to facilitating visitor itineraries and helping them to explore the rich urban fabric of the Medina. However, the aim was not only to make this an attractive place for tourists, but also to create a place for local residents to get together, rest and enjoy themselves, as well as highlighting their material and intangible heritage, following the example of the artisans working in and around Jraba Square.

The Minister called on those present to publicize the project and disseminate the experience as an example to other towns and cities in Tunisia and the Mediterranean as a whole.

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The event featured in the national press. Le Temps newspaper wrote: “The RehabiMed project to redevelop Jraba Square in Kairouan contributes to sustainable development and strengthens the role of the square in city tourism.” Assabeh newspaper, in Arabic, read: “The project to rehabilitate Jraba Square in Kairouan establishes it as a tourist attraction.

Archibat, the Maghreb’s leading architecture magazine, published a full article about the scheme.

Manual for the renovation of traditional Kairouan architecture

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Restoration of walls and rendering

After the consolidation of the walls, the rendering is stripped off to restore affected areas. After this phase has been completed, the wall is washed so that the rendering adheres well. If this task is handled well it can delay the phenomenon of degradation if there is a leak or rising damp.

· Before the works · Repairing the bond in two walls for consolidation and stability reasons · Checking the vertical

· An attractive exterior wall made up of a succession of courses of solid bricks · Washing the surface receiving the first coat of rendering with water · Putting on the second coat of rendering

· Dressing the second coat of rendering with a trowel · Washing and smoothing the final surface before it is given the coat of whitewash · Appearance of the outside wall after whitewashing with natural lime

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Traditional roofing

Traditional roofing, either in juniper wood or in joists/battens, explains the interaction between man and surroundings, between the Kairouan master builder and his environment. It requires periodic maintenance.

· Before the action · Preparation of the roof support · Joists installation

· The joists and battens after installation · Installation of a layer of fragments of solid bricks · Putting on a second coat of mortar

· Putting on a third coat of mortar to protect against leaks · Final appearance of the flat roof · Rainwater drainage

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Traditional lime-making

Traditional lime making techniques require deep knowledge of the provenance of the stone, baking, slaking and the fermentation technique after slaking through to working up and sieving.

· Calibrating the stones in order to position them and bond them to make up the overall shape of the hearth · Placing limestone in the kiln · Recovering the lime after baking the limestone

· Separating the stone and the natural lime powder · Bagging for sale · Slaking the lime after working it up with water

· Fermenting the lime for a period of up to three months · Making lime mortar consisting of lime milk + sieved sand + the volume of water necessary for working up · Lime used for painting

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Constructing vaults

Constructing a cross vault requires particular knowledge. The head of the team organises the work in order to put in place a team which must have the following responsibilities: a worker to prepare the plaster mortar, two workers to lay the bricks, two workers to hold the thread and a worker to cut the bricks in a particular way.

· Putting the bricks in a basin of water for 2 days to ensure that the mortar adheres to their surface · Start of the construction of the vault with the right-hand bases or often with stone brackets · Assembly of solid bricks one on top of the other with the aid of quick setting mortar (in the case of Jraba, plaster)

· The construction of the curved appearance of the cross vault requires the manufacture of specially cut pieces · Checking and regulating solid brick pieces requires the use of a thread to make it possible to position them · Beginning of the closure of the vault

· Placing the key of the vault · Filling in the joints · Appearance of the vault after filling in the joints

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Manufacture of traditional solid bricks

The quality of traditional solid bricks depends on the choice of clay, animal dung, the salinity of the water and the nature of the fuel.

The preparation of the mixture, the drying time and the baking time are the stages required for making traditional bricks. Together, these three stages can last between 21 and 30 days.

· Choosing the clay · Introducing the animal dung · Working up the clay + water + animal dung

· Making the bricks with a mould · Drying the bricks in the open air for a period of up to six days · Placing the bricks in the kiln

· Baking the bricks · Separating the poor quality bricks that have not responded well to baking · Polishing the bricks

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Stone cutting

Manufacturing the stone required for paving is a very heavy, costly operation. It requires considerable effort for handling large blocks of stone from the quarry and the manufacturing workshop until they can be installed.

· Moving a block of stone for cutting · Making a block of stone to the thickness indicated · Marking the smooth surface with the mono-cutter and adjusting the block to make it easier to handle

· Making the block using the Meula disc according to the dimensions indicated · Device to regulate the thickness · Finishing work: bushhammer and sand for polishing

· Polishing the surface by rubbing with grains of sand · Sculpture of the patterns · Storing the paving blocks before laying

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Paving

The paving of Place Jraba is made up of a repeated square module limited by a smooth strip filled in inside by stones (dhars) 15cm thick. The paving adopted is a traditional technique now abandoned to the profile of a process that is often industrialised, which is not compatible with the authenticity of Kairouan Medina.

· The worker chooses the paving block depending on its position and size · Laying the stone paving slabs with smooth upper surface and composing the square modules · Technique for laying the infill blocks of stone

· Laying the smooth slabs making up the square module · Marking out the planted areas using large blocks of stone · Making mortar to fill in the joints and looking for the colour

· Filling in the joints with using cement mortar and sand (first layer) · Filling in the joints with using white cement mortar and sand (second layer) · Paving after the finishing work

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Stone frames and carpentry

The door and window frames are a decorative component forming the expression of the identity of the traditional architecture of the Medina.

Fitting stone frames, wooden carpentry and wrought iron requires a knowledge and mastery of a technique and complex know-how.

· Fitting stone frames for the niche attached to Dar Zouabi · Fitting the stone lintel of a window frame in the dispensary · Checking a jamb is vertical and is aligned with the stone lintel

· Filling the hidden part of the frame in with brick · A carpentry job, cleaning the wrought iron · Carved entrance door

· Fixing the door against the wall with a metal sleeve screwed to the carpentry and sealed to the wall · Applying a protective coat of paint · Appearance of the door and window after the finishing work

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Electrical installation

In our project, the old buried networks and the part channelled into the walls have been entirely renewed, with the cables hidden, without forgetting the moving of the transformer.

· Opening the trench · Junction between the buried cables and the cables installed in the walls · Installing buried cables

· Protecting the cables with a bed of sand · Replacing the old transformer cables · The inspection box

· Opening channels in the walls · Installing ducts · Closing the trench

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Traditional pergola

Wooden pergolas are the solution adopted in the Medina to create pleasant shaded areas. This element has become a characteristic component of traditional architecture.

· Uncovered appearance of the passage running from the weavers’ souks to the square · Fitting the beams · Fixing wooden porticos (4.50 long) in holes 30cm deep

· Fitting a plank at the top of the balks making it possible to define a slope needed to drain off water · Fitting the entire pergola structure into the wall to prevent water leaking in · Preparing plastic sheeting to ensure the wood is protected from water leaking in

· Fitting protection to provide a large shaded area · Works of painting and finishing · View after the finishing work

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Wooden portico

The wooden portico is an architectural solution also adopted to provide shaded areas. It is often linked to commercial spaces.

· Making the wooden components of the portico: capital, column base... · Fitting the wooden feet and fixing them with cement mortar and blocks of stone and checking they are vertical · Fitting and fixing the upper part of the pergola on the wooden capitals

· Sinking the crosspieces in holes 20cm deep · Fitting the crosspieces in the aerial part of the portico · Fixing the crosspieces with nails

· Fitting a slab defining the necessary slope definition for water evacuation · Works of painting and finishing · Shop and portico integration in the new athmosphere of the whole square

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Pilot Operation

El presente programa está financiado por la unión europea

Euromed

Euromed heritage

Agencia española De cooperación internacional

Col·legi d’aparelladors I arquitectes tècnics de barcelona

MINISTÈRE DE LA CULTURE ET DE LA SAUVEGARDE DU PATRIMOINE République Tunisienne

Institut National du Patrimoine Tunisie

www.rehabimed.net

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