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Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the physical presence of the Jews in Tunis, showing where they used to live and examining what is left to testify their past. The paper also aims to highlight the demographic and cultural changes of the city of Tunis.

Paper long abstract:

The Jewish community in Tunis has a long history: Jews have always lived in Tunis, and for a while in Carthage too.

In general, the Jewish presence in Tunisia has always been an urban presence, for safety reasons but also for economic and cultural reasons.

The community lived, for a long time, in a specific zone of the Medina, sharing the same precariousness of the Muslim majority. The markets as well were divided among the communities (and also within the communities, as in the case of the Jewish world itself).

During the 1900s, the Jews "came out" from the Medina and lived also in other parts of the city, building both religious and non-religious buildings.

The physical remains of their presence are still visible in various parts of the city: through those buildings that still remain in Tunis, we will analyse the past, how populations changed and the cultural and demographic variations of Tunis.