Ennejma Ezzahra: Once Home, Now a Palace of Music

Once a home, the 'Star of Venus', or Ennejma Ezzahra, situated in Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia, is now a museum and a centre for the promotion and preservation of Tunisian music. Built by Baron Rodolphe d’Erlanger between 1912 and 1922, this historical palace is an outstanding example of Moorish architecture, with craftsmen from Morocco and Tunisia contributing to its construction. After Tunisia’s independence in 1956, it was the first museum to open in the country.

The palace was used as a filming location for the movie Justine. Some years after the death of Leo Alfred Frédéric d'Erlanger, his widow Baroness Edwina d'Erlanger sold the palace to the Tunisian government. It has housed the Centre des Musiques Arabes et Méditerranéennes (Centre for Arabic and Mediterranean Music) since 1991. The centre’s main role is the promotion of Tunisia’s musical heritage and serves as a regular concert venue, holding a collection of historical musical instruments, books, recordings, and other music-related objects.

Many recordings from the centre’s historical phonographic archives can be accessed on its website. World War II left its mark on the palace, as it was occupied and looted by the German military, and further damage was done when allied troops were billeted there later during the war.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons