Embassy of France, Tunis

The Dar El Kamila palace complex in La Marsa was granted to Léon Roches, the French consul general in Tunis from 1855 to 1863, as his residence in 1857. In 1859, an agreement was made with Bey Muhammad VI al-Habib, allowing the construction of a large consulate building on the western side of the Medina of Tunis. The new building, designed by engineer Philippe Caillat, was inaugurated on December 18, 1861, and replaced the old French consulate building inside the Medina. At the time, there were few buildings outside the walls of the old city.

After the French conquest of Tunisia in 1881, the complex became the seat of the Resident-general, who was the de facto governor of the French protectorate of Tunisia. In the 1890s, the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Vincent de Paul was built across the avenue from the Residency. In 1904, the two pavilions on either side of the entrance were rebuilt on a larger scale, and since then, the layout of the compound has remained largely unchanged.

When Tunisia gained independence in 1956, the complex was repurposed as the Chancery of the newly established embassy. The square in front of the building, previously known as Residence Square (Place de la Résidence), was renamed Independence Square (Place de l'Indépendance) soon after.