Tunisia’s Bardo National Museum will reopen on Thursday, September 14, the country’s ministry of culture has announced.
The museum, which was closed on July 25, 2021, will be accessible to the public between 9:30am and 4:30pm during weekdays, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
“New spaces have been created in the Bardo National Museum where archaeological and artistic artefacts, including mosaic paintings and marble sculptures, will be displayed for the first time after their restoration and maintenance,” the ministry of culture said.
Last month, activists, historians, archeologists and scholars petitioned the government to reopen the facility.
The museum, located in the capital Tunis, hosts a large collection of artefacts from all periods of Tunisia’s history, dating back 3,000 years.
Most significant museum
Bardo was closed in 2021 when President Kais Saied suspended parliament.
In March 2015, a terrorist attack occurred at the museum. In 2020, following the outbreak of Covid-19, restriction of movement and public interaction saw the museum record low tourist visits.
It was then closed on July 25, 2021 as part of government’s wider measures.
Bardo was founded on May 7, 1888. It has remained Tunisia’s most significant museum, and one of the most important artefact facilities in the Mediterranean.
It houses a large collection of Roman mosaics as well as Hellenistic bronze and marble objects from underwater excavations.
