The palace originally belonged to Ismail Es-Sounni, a high-ranking dignitary of the Husainid dynasty and brother-in-law to two successive beys. In 1867, Es-Sounni was accused of plotting against Muhammad III Sadiq Bey and executed. The bey confiscated the palace, renamed it Ksar Said -- the "Blessed Palace" -- as a propitiatory gesture to ward off the ill fortune of its previous owner's fate, and moved in after extensive renovations in 1869. French geophysicist Charles Lallemand, visiting in the years after the protectorate was established, described the palace as surrounded by magnificent gardens with an orangery covering several hectares, containing thousands of orange trees. After the bey's death in 1882, his successor Ali III Bey abandoned the palace, preferring the coastal villa of Dar al-Taj in La Marsa. Only one later sovereign, Muhammad IV al-Hadi Bey, chose to live there.

Ksar Said embodies the cultural syncretism of nineteenth-century Tunisia. European influence dominates the general architecture -- the first floor became the noble level, housing both ceremonial salons and the bey's private apartments. Walls are covered in ceramic tiles mainly imported from Italy. White Carrara marble appears in columns, capitals, door frames, and floors. All ceiling paintings are of Italian origin. Yet local tradition persists alongside this European veneer. Two ceremonial salons on the first floor reference Tunisian architectural traditions: one follows the T-shaped plan with alcoves typical of Tunisian houses, while the other features a vaulted ceiling with plaster rosette motifs executed in the traditional nakch hdida technique. The result is neither European nor Tunisian but something that belongs specifically to the world of the beys -- rulers who looked both north and south for inspiration.

The palace's later history reflects Tunisia's own transformations. In 1951, the last bey, Lamine Bey, converted Ksar Said into a hospital, later renamed Aboulkacem-Chabbi Hospital. An attempt in 1981 to establish a museum of modern Tunisian history in the palace was repeatedly postponed and never realized. After the 2011 Tunisian Revolution, the idea revived -- this time as a museum dedicated to the Muradid and Husainid dynasties. In 2016-2017, the palace hosted an exhibition called "The Awakening of a Nation," tracing reforms between 1830 and 1881. Finally, in March 2019, after restoration work, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed inaugurated the building as "Ksar Said, Palace of Letters and Arts." On March 15, 2022, the palace was classified as a historical monument.

The palace houses remarkable collections, dominated by large historical paintings that document Tunisia's engagement with Europe. Ahmad I Bey appears in European military uniform. Muhammad III Sadiq Bey is depicted laying his hand on the constitution of 1861. Paintings capture specific diplomatic moments: the Tunisian army's return from the Crimean War in 1856, Sadiq Bey's meeting with Napoleon III in Algiers in 1860, an audience in Brussels where King Leopold I of Belgium received Hayreddin Pasha. These canvases bear the signatures of European masters including Charles Gleyre and Charles-Philippe Lariviere. Beylical thrones from the mid-nineteenth century, adorned with gold leaf, stand alongside Husseinite medals and decorations, including the Nichan Iftikhar in silver and enamel rendered in the beylical colors of red and green. And at the center of it all sits that table -- the one where two opposing acts of sovereignty were executed exactly 83 years apart.