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After his return to Tunis, he used the small village of Jebel El-Manar (the fire mountain, where a fire was at the place of the present lighthouse, to guide the boats in Punic and Roman times) as his sanctuary. Abu Said died in 1231 and was buried on the Jebel; his mausoleum became a place of pilgrimage and the village of Sidi Abu Said was built around it. In the 18th century, the Husseinite Beys (Turkish governors turned kings) and later the wealthy burghers of Tunis erected residences, roads and thus Sidi Bou Said gradually got its present typical architecture.
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North Africa/Middle East
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