Zaouia of Sidi Mahrez

Another minor religious attraction in the glorious Medina in the city of Tunis is the Zaouia (minor mosque) of Sidi Mahrez in the Mosque of Sidi Mahrez. The mosque was built in 1692 by the Ottomans during the second half of the 17th century AD. Sidi Mahrez was the one who saved the city after it was captured by Abu Yazd during a rebellion against the Fatimid rule in AD 944. It was also Sidi Mahrez who reorganized the souqs at the area and gave permissions to the Jews to settle here in a Jewish district, the Hara district. He also built his Sunni Hanefite rite Zaouia (religious friary) here, in a time when the Tunis rulers were Shiites Muslims. The revered mausoleum of the patron saint lies opposite the entrance, in the Zaouia of Sidi Mahrez.