Mahdia Attractions
Chief town of the governorate of Mahdia
Mahdia lies in a sheltered situation on a small rocky peninsula, 1.5km/1mi long and barely 500m/550yds across, which is linked with the mainland only by a narrow isthmus. It is the economic center of the southern Sahel and in recent years has developed into Tunisia's largest fishing port. About a third of the country's total catch is landed here and processed in numerous canning factories.
There is an annual festival here in July or August, the "Nuits de Mahdia", with performances of classical and folk dancing and illuminated fishing boats in the bay.
Mahdia has a picturesque Medina and a beautiful sandy beach to the north of the town. So far, however, tourism has made little headway. The Friday market is held in Place Farhat Hached, on the harbor.
History
The strategic advantages of this site on its tongue of land were realized by the Phoenicians, who built a rectangular harbor, the Kothon, with watch-towers to defend it. The harbor, on the north side of the peninsula, is still in use.
There are no traces worth mentioning of the Punic settlement or the Roman town which succeeded it. In 1907, however, sponge-divers found a Roman vessel with a cargo from Greece which had sunk off the coast in 86 B.C.
During the Arab conquest the town was utterly destroyed. It was refounded in 913 by the Fatimid Caliph Obaid Allah el Mahdi - who saw that possession of this site on Cap Afrique (Ifriqiya) would give him control over coastal shipping - and named after him. A large settlement was laid out on the peninsula, protected by an 11m/36ft thick wall with four bastions and a single gateway with six portcullises, and a Harbor was built. Parts of the walls and fortifications can still be seen. After the completion of this almost impregnable stronghold, in 921, the Caliph moved his capital to Mahdia from his former seat at Reqqada. This was the base from which the Fatimids set out on the conquest of Egypt; then, having achieved this, they transferred the capital to Cairo in 973 and Mahdia fell into oblivion.
The stronghold of Mahdia was taken twice, once by the Normans in the 12th century and later by the Spaniards, who laid siege to the town during their punitive campaigns against the great corsair Dragut. When they left the town in 1554 they blew up all the bastions, which were never rebuilt, and thereafter Mahdia sank into insignificance.
Access
Mahdia lies on MC 82, 68km/42mi southeast of Sousse and 20km/12.5mi northeast of El Djem. It is easily reached by car, and there are good Metro and bus connections with Monastir and Sousse.
Mahdia lies in a sheltered situation on a small rocky peninsula, 1.5km/1mi long and barely 500m/550yds across, which is linked with the mainland only by a narrow isthmus. It is the economic center of the southern Sahel and in recent years has developed into Tunisia's largest fishing port. About a third of the country's total catch is landed here and processed in numerous canning factories.
There is an annual festival here in July or August, the "Nuits de Mahdia", with performances of classical and folk dancing and illuminated fishing boats in the bay.
Mahdia has a picturesque Medina and a beautiful sandy beach to the north of the town. So far, however, tourism has made little headway. The Friday market is held in Place Farhat Hached, on the harbor.
History
The strategic advantages of this site on its tongue of land were realized by the Phoenicians, who built a rectangular harbor, the Kothon, with watch-towers to defend it. The harbor, on the north side of the peninsula, is still in use.
There are no traces worth mentioning of the Punic settlement or the Roman town which succeeded it. In 1907, however, sponge-divers found a Roman vessel with a cargo from Greece which had sunk off the coast in 86 B.C.
During the Arab conquest the town was utterly destroyed. It was refounded in 913 by the Fatimid Caliph Obaid Allah el Mahdi - who saw that possession of this site on Cap Afrique (Ifriqiya) would give him control over coastal shipping - and named after him. A large settlement was laid out on the peninsula, protected by an 11m/36ft thick wall with four bastions and a single gateway with six portcullises, and a Harbor was built. Parts of the walls and fortifications can still be seen. After the completion of this almost impregnable stronghold, in 921, the Caliph moved his capital to Mahdia from his former seat at Reqqada. This was the base from which the Fatimids set out on the conquest of Egypt; then, having achieved this, they transferred the capital to Cairo in 973 and Mahdia fell into oblivion.
The stronghold of Mahdia was taken twice, once by the Normans in the 12th century and later by the Spaniards, who laid siege to the town during their punitive campaigns against the great corsair Dragut. When they left the town in 1554 they blew up all the bastions, which were never rebuilt, and thereafter Mahdia sank into insignificance.
Access
Mahdia lies on MC 82, 68km/42mi southeast of Sousse and 20km/12.5mi northeast of El Djem. It is easily reached by car, and there are good Metro and bus connections with Monastir and Sousse.
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Black Gate
From the roof of the Black Gate, which enters into the old town, are excellent views over the city and the surrounding countryside.
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Great Mosque
Originally built in 921, the Great Mosque is one of the city's key religious institutions. The doorway leading into the mosque is very impressive.
Archeological Tour
For visitors to Mahdia interested in archeology a trip down the coast by way of Salakta and La Chebba to Ras Bou Tria (59km/37mi) can be recommended.
La Chebba
23km/14mi beyond Salakta is La Chebba, near which, on the headland of Ras Kaboudia, are the remains of the ribat of Bordj Kjadidja, built on Byzantine foundations. This was one of a chain of similar forts built by the Abbasids along the coasts of the Sahel in the eighth century. The ancient settlement on this site was known as Caput Vada; the Byzantine general Belisarius landed here in 533 and went on to inflict a devastating defeat on the Vandals.
Medina
In the center of Mahdia, on the narrow rocky peninsula, is the Medina. The new town extends to the west and south; to the northwest is a beautiful sandy beach.
Ras Bou Tria
15km/9mi south of La Chebba is the promontory of Ras Bou Tria (reached on a side road which goes off on the left 8km/5mi beyond Mellouleche), with the remains of ancient Acholla. Excavations here have brought to light the foundations of Roman houses and remains of an amphitheater and baths.
Salakta, Tunisia
(Near Mahdia)
14km/8.5mi from Mahdia, beyond the little town of Ksour Essaf, is Salakta, with the modest remains of ancient Sullectum. This was probably the port to which lions for the gladiatorial contests in the amphitheater at El Djem were shipped.
The Mahdia Wreck
The existence of a harbor at least in Roman times seems to be evidenced by the discovery by sponge-divers off Cap Afrique in 1907 of a Roman sailing ship which had sunk in a storm in 86 B.C. Its cargo, which included dedicatory reliefs from Piraeus and large numbers of marble columns, showed that the ship came from Piraeus. Items recovered from the ship are now in the Bardo Museum in Tunis.
