These buildings of European architecture were built in the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries at the gates of the medina, a traditional Arab old town, to constitute a "modern" city center adapted to the needs of industrialization.
They were inhabited by settlers until their hasty departure after Tunisian independence in 1956.
But 65 years later, many dilapidated buildings are threatened with destruction, for lack of a renovation strategy by the State, which has seized some of the buildings.
At least 160 are at risk of collapse, according to the latest official census in 2019.
Some residents have carried out repairs that have distorted the architectural heritage while other abandoned buildings serve as landfills or squats.
Finally, some buildings are threatened by real estate developers who are trying to get their hands on them to raze them and replace them with modern constructions.
Art Deco Pearls
"I have been resisting for a long time," says Imed Tahenti, the last inhabitant of a deserted building, located a stone's throw from the capital's main avenue, lined with Haussmann-style buildings.
He denounces the pressure of a real estate intermediary who announced to the tenants having bought the building in the 1970s and now wishes to have the premises vacated.
Mr. Tahenti, in his sixties and baker by trade, fears that the owner's objective is to demolish the building, never maintained, to better enhance the land with modern offices.
And he especially regrets not having been informed of the sale of the property, recalling that the law made him, however, as a tenant since 1956, a priority potential purchaser.
Whimsical volutes, high ceilings, handcrafted earthenware and tiles, spiral staircases: the building in question is a pearl of the Art Deco movement, born in the 1910s.
Built by Italian and French architects and contractors, these constructions nevertheless suffer from their association with French colonization and its exploitation.
But "one cannot speak of the Arab city without evoking at the same time the European city which constitutes the center of Tunis, they are the two sides of the same heart" of the city, estimates the architect Dhouha Al-Jalasi.
Heritage
Europeans made up a large part of the Tunisian population at the start of the 1857th century. And, after independence, the Constitution of XNUMX allowed them to own land and build houses.
European neighborhoods have developed in different cities, such as Tunis.
However, many of the original owners eventually left the country for Europe, after the country's declaration of independence and in the midst of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
According to official statistics communicated at the end of 2020, the number of foreign properties in Tunisia stands at 12.305, of which 7.645 have been ceded to the Tunisian authorities under Franco-Tunisian real estate contracts.
The Édifices et Mémoires Association recently called for a "constructive strategy" to "preserve the historic architectural landscape".
But these heritage defenders have little hope of making a difference, at a time when the country is going through one of the most serious economic and political crises in its history.
Bertrand Ficini, deputy director of the French Development Agency (AFD) is not more optimistic.
"Given the relatively low funding that we have been able to collect in recent years, the conservation of heritage, especially European heritage, is not a priority for our partners," he laments.
At the end of 2020, AFD still committed up to 12 million euros for a project to renovate old towns, including European districts, Mr Ficini told AFP.
But the European city of Tunis remains threatened by a bill on "ruined buildings to be destroyed", presented to Parliament in 2018 and concerning 5.000 buildings. The project was only postponed under pressure from civil society.