La Gazelle | Page 57

culture I culture I 2 3 ‫ثقــافـة‬ i naugurated on April 6th 2013 on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the death of Habib Bourguiba, the Skanès Palace, also called Habib Bourguiba Museum, is a place entirely dedicated to the first President of the young Tunisian republic. Greatly inspired by Mediterranean architecture, Bourguiba’s old residence was mainly built from white marble by the famous architect Olivier Clément Cacoub. Its square structure and its sober façades reflect the desire to modernize architecture in Tunisia. The building has an patio overlooking the gardens and the sea, whereas the west wing of the palace contains the married couples’ bedrooms as well as a masterful dining room and a North African living room. The Skanès Palace, where Bourguiba stayed during the summer, has been undergoing renovations for years. It has been redesigned to house the archives and personal objects of the former President, rediscovered in the basement of the Palais de Carthage. Hundreds of objects, including masters paintings, photo albums and letters were sent back to their place of origin. The palace also became a documentation center on the political life of the first President of Tunisia. I ‫تــــــــــــــم افتتاح قرص سقانص، الذي كان مقر إقامة أول رئيس للجمهورية التونسية، واملعروف أيض