Tuesday, July 24, 2012

ROUND TRIP THROUGH TUNISIA 5 - Tunis, Bardo Museum



During our stop in Tunis from the capital itself, we haven't seen very much. Our guide hurried us to the medina where he probably had some friends with shops !

The medina is found at the centre of the city, a dense agglomeration of alleys and covered passages, full of intense scents and colours, boisterous and active trade, and a surfeit of goods on offer ranging from leather to plastic, tin to the finest filigree, tourist souvenirs to the works of tiny crafts shops.



I prefered to look up at the architecture and not aside into the shops.



It was very crowded and hard to get through the small streets full of people.



I liked to discover special views like here a barber !

Unfortunately one of our group members was so intelligent to take all his papers, money and even his flight tickets into the crowded medina and of course a well trained pick pocket stole him everything ! I wonder how people can be so stupid, he could have left it in the secured coach ! Anyway he had to go to the police together with the driver as our guide lost his head again and didn't know what to do, and we all had to wait for 2 hours on a street in Tunis until everything was settled.







and that's all I saw, beautiful architecture, lots of people and a lot of traffic.

A little late, we finally arrived at the National Bardo Museum. Thousands of objects originating from excavations carried out all over the country during the 19th and 20th centuries are on display. These are divided into departments between fifty or so rooms and galleries, illustrating the various stages of Tunisia’s history, from prehistory to the middle of the last century.

Thanks to its collection of mosaics, the Bardo museum has gained an international reputation for the richest, the most varied and the most refined collection.
more about the museum here.

Unfortunately a big part of the museum was closed for renovation.





The entrance



From there on it was closed



Amazing mosaics



and our guide from the Tunisian Travel Service who as usual didn't know what to explain



Fortunately we had a guide from the museum a very good French/English speaking young woman.



In a corner I discovered this statue, waiting for the right place !



Beautiful mosaics



and a Roman baptismal font



Roman vases

After a while I had enough of the guide's long explanations and wandered around to take some other pictures. I met a young man and told him how sad it was that such a big part of the museum was closed.
He smiled and opened the part which was closed to the public and made me a sign to follow him. I didn't hesitate for a moment, I like things which are not allowed ! 



and so I had the chance to see new discovered statues, still wrapped



the statue of a pig from Roman times



a room which was already ready for visitors



Sarcophagus and even a very tiny one for a baby



they all were beautifully sculptured.



From one window he showed me the view on the city residence of the President, and I could take these pictures through the grids.

Then we went back, I gave him 2 €, he was happy and me too and I joined our group again until the tour ended. I was quiet happy about my experience and the others were quiet jalous !




10 comments:

lorik said...

What an interesting place to live! I love those shots inside the museum.
I have just started a new photo challenge - Mandarin Orange Monday- if you would like to share one of the orange-ish pics there:)

Mary said...

Beautiful! I bet the guy was just sick when he was pick-pocketed. Hard lesson learned!

Rajesh said...

Great stuff. The collections at the museum are wonderful.

Fun60 said...

I am really enjoying reading about your trip. That poor man losing all those vital documents! A very expensive lesson learned. Your guide didn't disappoint me in his response nor his knowledge of the museum. It sounds as though the museum was a highlight of the trip. That Roman baptismal font looked amazing from an historical point of view and also an artistic view.

sandra carlier said...

Une belle expérience!!! Ce musée contient des trésors! Et que l'architecture est belle! Tu as vraiment fait un très beau séjour! Ce soir je répète moi aussi dans la cour d'un musée notre pièce de théâtre! Nous jouons pour de bon demain! Après plus de théâtre jusqu'au mois de septembre!

carol l mckenna said...

Weren't you blessed ~ excellent photography and fascinating tour ~~ namaste, (A Creative Harbor)

Maribeth said...

I love the heavy wooden door. How beautiful amongst all the tile and sculptures to see that!

Unknown said...

Wonderful tour!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Loree said...

Your vacations are always so full of adventures! So happy that you got the 'secret tour' :)

Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers said...

Your private trip and the artefacts on display looked more interesting than the official tour. What strikes me also is the absolute suitability of the architecture for the surroundings. It looks so deliciously cool inside the museum!

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I love writing, traveling and photography. . I am German, married to an Italian and we live in Waterloo (15 km from Brussels) / Belgium since many years. Waterloo is a famous place to many tourists, because Napoleon lost his battle here against Wellington and other European countries.

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