If Bourguiba appears as a very modern and moderate leader from the books of history, Monastir is a proof how dead serious he actually took himself. Money that this country could have used so much better in other areas, have been put into making Monastir, the birthplace of Bourguiba, into his mausoleum.

In the centre of town a grand cemetery ends in a domed palace-like structure, the place where Bourguiba has been put to rest. But the people of Monastir, and really not most Tunisians either, won't object. North Africans have learned to accept some extravagance from their leaders.