Address : Castel place N°4

Residence of the Bani Khourassane who reigned over Tunisia from 450 to 555 H (1057-1160 AD). Before the Kasbah was built it has been used for quite a while as the official residence of the Governor Representative of the Almohads in Tunis. Ali Bey II (1173-1197 H/1759-1782 AD) offerd it to his Minister Ali Kahia. Minister Youssef Sahib at-Tabaâ bought it in 1228 H/1813 AD and made major transformations that gave the building a new appearance and greater luxury. In 1275 H/1858 it became the seat of the first Municipal Council of the City of Tunis. From the very beginning of the French occupation it was chosen to be the HQ of the Higher Command of the colonial troops and acquired the name of Dar al-General or The General's House. In June 1958 it was turned over to the Tunisian authorities who set up there a small museum of Islamic Art. It later became the home of the National Institute of Archaeology and Art (now called the National Heritage Institute). The main building is composed of: 1. A ground floor with a central courtyard surrounded with columns in marble and decorated with ceramics and naqch hadida, leading into T-shaped rooms with richly decorated alcoves (also with ceramics and naqch hadida). The floor also has a small garden, stables and living quarters for the personnel. 2. An upper floor which has a small covered patio, a formal drawing-room and additional T-shaped rooms which are decorated with ceramics and sculptured stucco and have wooden ceilings. 3. A top floor called "kchouk "where the General had his private luxury apartments with a bathtub, white marble, ceramics, stucco and ceilings in paint-decorated wood. To this day the gold paint on the ceilings and the original chandeliers can be admired.