A door is left tantalizing open in the inner courtyard (Aug 2017)

The Palais Bayram is a restored 18th century mansion in the old city (medina) of Tunis. It was once the residence of the Hanafi muftis (Muslim jurists/experts in religious law). The mansion has been painstakingly restored over almost 7 years (2007 to 2014) and now is a boutique hotel – an oasis of calm, peace and beautiful architecture in the bustling medina of Tunis. The attention to architectural detail and the effort to showcase the elegance of that era is evident in every corner of the hotel. It offers a peek in to architecural history of the Maghreb and, to my untrained eye, reminded me a lot of Istanbul.

The inner courtyard of Palais Bayram (Aug 2017)

A door is left tantalizing open in the inner courtyard (Aug 2017)

The upper floor has more of the colourful tiled walls a view to the blue skies… the natural light makes so much of a difference. (Aug 2017)

Beautifully crafted arches in the courtyard (Aug 2017)

Apart from the artwork, the colours of the tiles and the roof adds so much warmth to the building (Aug 2017)

A view of our room in Palais Bayram (Aug 2017)

There is a hammam in the adjoining property and one can see the steam vents from the window of our room. (Aug 2017)

Beauty is in small things – like this solitary stained glass window (if I can call it that)… adds a different, warmer ambience to the otherwise bare whitewashed walls. (Aug 2017)

This was taken on the last night of our stay – from outside, who would think there is so much of architectural history behind those doors (Aug 2017)