Die Stadt Tunis und Gouletta

Title

Die Stadt Tunis und Gouletta

Description

Map shows the city of Tunis and the harbour Gouletta.

ca. 1684

Artist

Mallet (1630-1706)

Alain Manesson Mallet (1630- 1706 ) was a French cartographer and engineer. He started his career as a soldier in the army of Louis XIV, became a Sergeant-Major in the artillery and an Inspector of Fortifications. He also served under the King of Portugal, before returning to France, and his appointment to the court of Louis XIV. His military engineering and mathematical background led to his position teaching mathematics at court. His major publications were Description de L'Univers (1683) in 5 volumes, and Les Travaux de Mars ou l'Art de la Guerre (1684) in 3 volumes. His Description de L'Universe contains a wide variety of information, including star maps, maps of the ancient and modern world, and a synopsis of the customs, religion and government of the many nations included in his text. It has been suggested that his background as a teacher led to his being concerned with entertaining his readers. This concern manifested itself in the charming harbor scenes and rural landscapes that he included beneath his description of astronomical concepts and diagrams. Mallet himself drew most of the figures that were engraved for this book.

Historical Description

Tunis is the capital of Tunisia and provincial capital of the governorate of the same name. Tunis is one of the oldest cities on the Mediterranean. It was only after the Arab conquest and the destruction of Carthage at the end of the 7th century that Tunis achieved supra-regional importance. After being a modest village in the shadow of Carthage, Kairouan and then Mahdia, the city was named capital in 1159 during the Almohad reign. Its status was then confirmed by the Hafsids in 1228. Tunis came under Ottoman rule for the first time in 1534. From 1705 onwards, Ottoman control was increasingly loosened in favor of local rulers, and the country fell into the maelstrom of growing national debt. Following the annexation of Tunisia in 1881, France made Tunis the seat of the protectorate administration. A European-style new town was built between the old town and the sea, and the city port was connected to the newly built port of La Goulette via a shipping canal through Lake Tunis. In addition to French colonists, many Italians also lived in the city, mostly from nearby Sicily. In March 1956, France confirmed the country's independence. Today, Tunis is the economic and commercial capital of Tunisia.