Travel Guide of Ghar el Meleh

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Ghar El Melh Village locates in the southern side of Gabal Nadour about 325 meters away from Rarfraf Beach. It was constructed in 1640 by Osta Murad Bey to be a pirate base of Porto Farina. In 1645, the village was occupied by the British army under the leadership of Sir Francis Drake. At the beginning of the 19th Century, Ahmed Bey ordered constructing the two forts that still surround the vil ... Ghar El Melh Village locates in the southern side of Gabal Nadour about 325 meters away from Rarfraf Beach. It was constructed in 1640 by Osta Murad Bey to be a pirate base of Porto Farina. In 1645, the village was occupied by the British army under the leadership of Sir Francis Drake.
At the beginning of the 19th Century, Ahmed Bey ordered constructing the two forts that still surround the village till now. Unfortunately the construction did not finish and it collapsed quickly. The port was abandoned finally because of la Goulette Approach.
Visitors of Ghar El Melh Village can hardly find hotels for spending some days, and the only option is to camp out in Didi Ali El Mekki. It is recommended for visitors of Ghar El Melh to stay for the night in either Tunis or Bizerte which are the closest major cities to this region. Additionally, there are only simple eateries only providing delicious and cheap food for both local and foreign visitors.
In spite of its small size, Ghar El Melh is linked with the neighboring major cities with highway roads and there are numerous means of transportaion for moving from it to another city. Tunis is only about 60km away from the village and there are many buses throughout the day.
How To Reach Ghar El Melh?
In spite of its small size, Ghar El Melh is linked with the neighboring major cities with highway roads and there are numerous means of transporttaion for moving from it to another city. To travel from Ghar El Melh to Bizerte, one can take TD 1 or 5 that passes hourly and two buses daily. There are numerous public transports for moving from Raf Raf, 20 km to the south, and to Tunis, 60m away. It is quite difficult to find a public transport to reach Sidi Ali El Meki but it is easy to have a free seat with any passenger who has a private car.
Ottoman Forts At the moment one step at Ghar El Melh Village, he finds it fortified by three fascinating forts that date back to the Ottomans Era. These three imposing Ottoman fortresses were constructed to make the regiona the base of pirates and smugglers in the 17th Century. It remained in use as a base for pirates till the 19th Century after its restoration on the hands of Ahmed Bey and was known as Porto Farina. Shortly after that, the lagoon began to silt and piracy activity in the region stopped.
Visitors of the modern Ghar El Milh Village would find only the remarkably high walls of the fort and the small white houses of the calm village.