Borj El Loutani
A fort of 1659 by the old port.
Noomen9 — CC0 · Citizen59 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Noomen9 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Imen Bouhajja — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Citizen59 — CC BY-SA 3.0
Ghar El Melh, once known to Europeans as Porto Farina, is a small fishing and farming town in Bizerte governorate, at the head of a shallow lagoon 41 km north of Tunis as the crow flies. Its old harbour and arsenal survive; its three 17th-century forts joined ICESCO's list of Islamic world heritage in February 2026. Probably the site of Rusucmona, ancient Utica's port, the town was refounded by Usta Murad, dey of Tunis from 1637 to 1640, who made it a corsair and naval base and settled Andalusian Moriscos. In April 1655 Robert Blake's English fleet burned the warships there; Borj El Loutani followed in 1659. Medjerda silt slowly closed the port; the forts were prisons until 1964. The Andalusians also left ramli, vegetables grown on lagoon sand watered by rain floating on seawater, recognised by FAO as agricultural heritage in 2020. Walk between the forts: Borj Lazaret at the entrance, a quarantine station in the 19th century; Borj El Wostani; and Borj El Loutani by the old port, where Dar El Bhira, a national wetlands centre, was inaugurated in 2013. Small boats fish the lagoon for mullet and eel; fishermen mend them under the arsenal's vaults. Tunis is about an hour's drive away; public transport is irregular. The long Sidi Ali El Mekki beach, 5 km east, is busiest in summer; beyond it stands the saint's shrine, where visitors should dress modestly and women cover their hair. Pair the trip with ancient Utica (closed Mondays) or the Old Port of Bizerte, about 20 and 40 km by road.
A fort of 1659 by the old port.
Lagoon boats and the arsenal's vaults.
Vegetables grown on lagoon sand.
Old port and forts, Ghar El Melh, Bizerte governorate
They are free to see from outside, but access to their interiors varies: Borj Lazaret is the main exhibition venue of the town's international photography festival, and Borj El Loutani was fitted out as a wetlands centre in 2013. Ask locally on the day.
Yes, Sidi Ali El Mekki's long beach suits a summer swim, but beaches here have few facilities, so bring water, snacks and shade. In winter the wind often makes the coast better for walking than swimming.