Bardo Museum

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The main museum of the city of Tunis and, perhaps, the entire country, the National Museum of Bardo is the world's largest collection of magnificent Roman mosaics and awe-inspiring collection of artifacts from the three thousand-year history of civilizations in Tunisia .Located in the building of the former residence of the Turkish Beys, the palace of Bardo, the museum, in addition to the stunning beauty and value of the funds, boasts fantastic interiors: skilful carving on alabaster, painting on wood and ceramics .After a recent renovation, the Bardo Museum doubled the exhibition space - though not all of them are open to the public .

A bit of history

Large-scale archaeological excavations began on the territory of Tunisia with the establishment of the French protectorate in 1881 .The number of extracted artifacts was so huge that the question arose where to put it all - the existing museum buildings were too small .Then in the 1880s it was decided to give to the exhibition area the former palace of the Turkish Beys, located in the then suburb of the capital Bardo and built for the Arab Hafsid dynasty in the 13th century .The National Museum of Bardo opened its doors to the public in 1888 .and today is the second largest museum in Africa after Cairo .From 2009 to 2012 .The museum has undergone a total reconstruction and today appears before the visitors in all the splendor of the renewed grandeur .

It is certainly worth paying attention to the so-called marine atlases - a painstaking image of a variety of underwater inhabitants, often with their Latin names.

What to see

Ancient Roman mosaics, extracted from excavations of ancient cities throughout Tunisia, are the main subject of interest in the Bardo Museum. Here are presented as the first examples of this art of Punic times (5-4 centuries BC), as well as rich Roman and more modest Byzantine mosaics. For the convenience of inspection, the mosaics are classified by their origin and placed in the halls of the corresponding ancient Roman settlements - the Carthage Hall, the Duggy Hall, the Altiburos Hall, the Suss Hall, etc. Among the most interesting mosaics of the Bardo Museum are "Neptune and the Four Seasons" and "Cyclops, Who Leverage the Sword of Hercules" from El Jem, "The Head of the Ocean", "Virgil, Writing" Aeneid "Surrounded by Clio and Melpomene" and "Triumph of Neptune" from Suss, "Odyssey, passing by the island of sirens" and "Selenium, punishing pirates."

It is certainly worth paying attention to the so-called marine atlases - a painstaking image of a variety of underwater inhabitants, often with their Latin names. Another masterpiece is a mosaic of the "naked floor" type: on a dark background there are scrupulously depicted eggshells, fish skeletons and all kinds of scraps. They put such mosaics, as you might guess, on the floor of the dining rooms.

A separate room of the Bardo Museum is dedicated to the Mahdi shipwreck, the event of 80 AD, when a Roman ship loaded with Greek artifacts fought off course and sank 48 km from the coast of Mahdia. Among the treasures raised by the Jacques-Yves Cousteau team are Greek beds, gorgeous bronzes (drunk Hercules, amusing with his masculine dignity, deserves special attention), graceful statues, candelabra and bowls.

Treasures of the Bardo Museum

Address and time of work

Address: Tunis, Le Bardo, Musee National du Bardo.

Opening hours: from May 1 to September 30: from 9:00 to 17:00, from October 1 to April 30: from 9:30 to 16:30.

Admission: 11 TND, children up to 12 years old - admission is free.

Inside the Bardo Museum

Mosaic, Bardo Museum

One of the halls, the Bardo Museum

One of the exhibits, the Bardo Museum