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FORTRESS STUDY GROUP
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Casemate 76 |
Ghar el Melh (Porto Farina), strategically placed on the Tunisian coast only 80 miles from Sicily and just off one of the narrowest and busiest shipping lanes in the Mediterranean, was an ideal base for the Barbary corsairs that cruised and preyed in those waters.
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In the C17th, the Dey of Tunis, Osta Murad (1637-40), decided to develop Ghar el Melh as a military port and in 1638 built the first (east) fort there. However, in 1654, due to continuing attacks on merchant shipping, the English Admiral Blake bombarded the port, destroying much of it together with nine corsair vessels, and resulting in English shipping gaining immunity from any further corsair attack. (1) Nevertheless, the rebuilt port continued to derive great rewards from piracy until as late as 1834, when the accidental explosion of a magazine in the basement of one of the, mainly Maltese, pirates resulted in the destruction of much of the town.
Shortly afterwards, Ahmed Pasha Bey (1837-55), aware of European expansionist ambitions in the area and fired by the example of Mehmet Ali in Egypt, set in motion a series of reforms and developments designed to strengthen the independence and sovereignty of his dynasty. One of these was a decision in 1837 to transform Ghar el Melh into a major naval base and, in much new building, a further two forts (west and central) were built to defend the harbour. Unfortunately, at about this time, the nearby River Mejerda had begun to deposit silt across the entrance to the harbour and despite all efforts to clear it, the port had to be abandoned in favour of La Goulette, near Tunis. Today all three forts survive although only the West fort remains in good condition.
The three Forts of Ghar el Melh
From the available literature it is difficult, with certainty, to describe the historical development of the three forts. Although they enjoy similar features and at first sight it might be assumed that they were built at much the same time, it would seem that the East Fort of Borj Osta Murad is on the site of, or is developed from, the original fort built in 1638. After the destruction of the port in 1654 by Admiral Blake it is uncertain if this fort was rebuilt immediately or was left in a ruinous or modified state until massive transformation of the port into a naval base by Ahmed Pasha Bey in 1837.
The West Fort
This handsome fort is the most interesting of the three, being intact and apparently unmodified. Built in local stone, it is in the shape of a stirrup, the curved portion incorporating a fine seaward-facing casemated battery with musketry gallery above.
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A barrack-block is built across the straight landward end, giving on to a central parade between it and the battery. At either end of the barracks is an octagonal tower; entry to the fort is by a gate in the eastern wall, reached by a bridge over a ditch, the counterscarp of which is revetted in stone. Embrasures in the towers provided covering fire along the ditch.
Formerly said to have been occupied by the Gendarmerie, it is now used as private living quarters.
The Central Fort
Distant examination of this fort suggests that, if not built primarily as a military headquarters and barracks, it has served as one. Rectangular in shape, with octagonal towers at each corner, it stands relatively high out of a shallow ditch in the centre of the town, its gate opening onto the central square. The seaward-facing ramparts include tower gun embrasures and crenellations along the curtain wall.
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The East Fort (Borj Osta Murad)
This fort is somewhat similar in outline to the West Fort except that, in place of a casemated battery, there are two squat towers, joined by a low curtain facing the shore, presumably designed to mount artillery. There is some evidence of later modification, possibly due to its later use as a prison. Currently it is used for workshops and for boat-building.
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The Inner Harbour and Arsenal
The forts were built to protect this area which is now so strangely quiet and deserted. The inner harbour is rectangular in shape, entry being through a narrow entrance at one corner of the man-made breakwater and this, in turn, is guarded at intervals by squat rectangular towers along its length. On the landward side, a wide quay fronts the eighteen workshops of the arsenal.
The Inner Harbour and Arsenal. Aerial view showing the harbour flanked by the Central Fort and the East Fort. The West Fort is out of shot to the left.
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(1) See Hughes, Quentin; Britain in the Mediterranean and the defence of her naval stations, Liverpool 1981, p20, for the background to and details of, this operation.
Background reading: Ottoman Tunisia, 1574 - 1705 and Tunisia Under the Beys, 1705 - 1957, published by the National Agency for the Conservation and Exploitation of the Archaeological and Historical Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Tunis.
