Ghar El Melh

In the past Ghar El Melh (rear RTL غارالملح), meaning “cave of salt” (because of proximity of saltworks) and called Oporto Farina , is a coastal village of the North-East of the Tunisia.

Geography

Ghar El Melh is located at 57 kilometers in the north of Tunis and at 44 kilometers in the east of Bizerte. Attached to the Governorship of Bizerte, the municipality account: 5018 inhabitants.

The village is known for its historic site and long the Plage of Sidi Ali El Mekki located at 5 kilometers in the east of the village. The municipality has in all 7 kilometers of Côte S being spread out between the course of Sidi Ali El Mekki and the port of Kalâat el-Andalusians.

History

Founded at the beginning of the installation of the Phéniciens in Tunisia (814 av. J. - C.), the Rusucmona antique quickly becomes a famous counter to be the outer harbor of Utique.

It becomes thereafter an important base for the Corsaire S Barbaresque S. Following the conquest of Tunisia by Charles Quint in 1534, the Spanish try to fight them and build a fort there but it is the British Admiral Robert Blake which comes to end in 1654. However, the port and its defenses are rebuilt quickly and become again a base for British pirates and Maltese. In 1834, an important arsenal pertaining to a Maltese pirate explodes and destroys part of Ghar El Melh.

Ahmed I Bey (1837 - 1855) decides to put an end to piracy in Tunisia and to transform their base into commercial port. It made there build thrown news and fortresses.

A small colony of Maltese origin lived in Ghar El Melh to the paddle of independence. One of the activities to which at the origin the Malteses devote themselves is the Contrebande. But, at the end of the 19th century, the introduction of a more rigorous customs mode obliges the smugglers to be transformed into fishermen and market-gardeners. While refusing to take Tunisian nationality in 1956, the Malteses had to compel themselves to leave Tunisia.

Patrimonial site

Today, one can admire the Turkish old port as well as the three forts. The old port plays a paramount role in the area, with the punic time, as a commercial counter like military site thanks to the geomorphological character of its site of establishment. Arranged in 1638, the old port is a long time the port of the first military base in Tunisia. It is then abandoned in 1818 and an attempt at restoration without success is undertaken in 1838. The port then became an important fishing port of the area. In 1975, the construction of a new port, directly open on the sea, gradually relegates the old port to an artisanal fishing in water of the lagoon.

The three forts date all from the Othoman time: their construction goes up around 1650. Historically, they are used as Bagne for the slaves made captive by the corsairs at the time of attacks at sea. These three fortresses underwent transformations and a strong degradation following their transformation into civil Prison ( karraka ), probably as of 1881 (beginning of the French protectorate). In 1922, the three forts are classified historic building. In 1964, they cease being prisons and are unused. The Tunisian government undertook, starting from 1990, a vast program of restoration and development of these monuments.

Agriculture

In the back-country, agriculture is considered by its strong intensity of occupation of the ground and a great diversity in the cultures. It associates the Arboriculture with the annual and multiannual cultures and the cultures dry with the irrigated cultures. One also practices the breeding bovine, ovine and avicolous.

The landscape of this zone is marked by a mosaic of terraces, result of an adaptation of the techniques of farms to the difficult nature of the site been useful by good a Pluviométrie and the existence of: 1200 Well. The delegation of Ghar El Melh counts close to: 8885 Hectare S of arable lands and occupies approximately: 1842 farmers.

Fish

Fishing for a long time constitutes one of the principal economic activities of the area. The sector employs primarily traditional techniques and absorbs a very important labor.

The new port shelters approximately 200 units of fishing and is devoted to inshore fishing like with fishing with fire and small the seine. The old port shelters about fifty small units dedicated to fishing in the lagoon. The production of fishing with Ghar El Melh is of approximately: 1500 tons of fish per annum (including 30 tons which come from the lagoon).

The proximity of Medjerda generates a progressive and continuous filling port. This situation requires a periodic Dragage and required the construction of Digue S of protection connected to the shore and visible of the beach bordering on the port.

Tourist site

One can benefit from the beach of Sidi Ali El Mekki, one of most beautiful the beach of Tunisia.

The top of Djebel Nadour, of an altitude of 334 meters, is accessible conveys some (by making a turning by Raf Raf) and offers a superb sight on the area. The Djebel is stretched towards the east to form the course Sidi Ali El Mekki (also called course Farina or headland of Apollon), opposite the island Plane, which marks one of the ends of the Tunisian Dorsale.

More in the east of the beach and on the southern side of Djebel Edmina, one can visit the Mausolée of Sidi Ali El Mekki which became a place of Pèlerinage attracting the followers of various areas of Tunisia.

Further still and located at height from the headland which overhangs the course Farina, one finds the mausoleum of Sidi Haj Me Barek.

During the summer season, one can attend the most important appointment of photography in Tunisia: international meetings of photography of Ghar El Melh. The exposures and workshops take place within two of the three forts whereas night evenings are organized on the beach.

References

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