BIZERTA (properly pronounced Ben Zert; Fr. Bizerte)

This article appears in Volume V04, Page 16 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: BER-BLA

BIZERTA (properly pronounced Ben Zert; Fr. Bizerte) , a seaport of Tunisia, in 37 17' N., 9 5o' E. Pop. about 12,000. Next to Toulon, Bizerta is the most important naval port of France in the Mediterranean. It occupies a commanding strategical position in the narrowest part of the sea, being 714 M. E. of Gibraltar, 1168 m. W.N.W. of Port Said, 240 M. N.W. of Malta, and 420 M. S. by E. of Toulon. It is 6o m. by rail N.N.W. of Tunis. The town is built on the shores of the Mediterranean at the point where the Lake of Bizerta enters the sea through a natural channel, the mouth of which has been canalized. The modern town lies almost entirely on the north side of the canal. A little farther north are the ancient citadel, the walled " Arab
town and the old harbour (disused). The present outer harbour covers about 300 acres and is formed by two converging jetties and a breakwater. The north jetty is 4000 ft.

long

LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

, the

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

jetty 3300 ft., and the breakwaterwhich protects the port from the prevalent north-

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

winds2300 ft.

long

LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

. The entrance to the canal is in the centre of the outer harbour. The canal is 2600 ft. long and 787 ft. wide on the surface. Its banks are lined with quays, and ships drawing 26 ft. of water can moor alongside. At the end of the canal is a large commercial harbour, beyond which the channel opens into the lake-in reality an arm of the searoughly circular in form and covering about 50 sq. m., two-thirds of its waters having a depth. of 30 to 40 ft. The lake, which merchant vessels are not allowed to enter, contains the naval port and arsenal. There is a

torpedo

TORPEDO

and submarine boat station on the north side of the channel at the entrance to the lake, but the principal naval works are at Sidi Abdallah at the

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

-west corner of the lake and to m. from the open sea. Here is an enclosed basin covering 123 acres with ample quayage, -dry docks and every-thing necessary to the

accommodation

ACCOMMODATION (Lat. accommodare, to make fit, from ad, to, cum, with, and modus, measure)

, repair, revictualling and coaling of a numerous

fleet

FLEET

. Barracks, hospitals and water-works have been built, the military town, called Ferryville, being self-contained.
Fortifications have been built for the

protection

PROTECTION

of the port. They comprise (a) the older works surrounding the town; (b) ' a group of

coast

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

batteries on the high ground of Cape Bizerta or Guardia, 4 M. north-north-west of the town; these are grouped round a powerful fort called JebelKebir, and have a command of 300 to 800 ft. above sea-level; (c) another group of batteries on the narrow ground between the sea and the lake to the east of the town; the highest of these is the Jebel Tuila battery 265 ft. above sea-level.
The LAKE or BIZERTA, called Tinja by the Arabs, abounds in excellent fish, especially . mullets, the dried roe of which, called botargo, is largely exported, and the fishing industry employs a large proportion of the inhabitants. The western shore of the lake is low, and in many places is covered with olive trees to the water's edge. The

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

-eastern shores are hilly and wooded, and behind them rises a range of picturesque hills. A narrow and shallow channel leads from the western side of the lake into another sheet of water, the Lake of Ishkul, so called from Jebel Ishkul, a hill on its southern bank 1740 ft. high. The Lake of Ishkul is nearly as large as the first lake, but is very shallow. Its waters are generally sweet.
Bizerta occupies the site of the ancient Tyrian colony, Hippo Zarytus or Diarrhytus, the harbour of which, by means of a spacious pier, protecting it from the north-east wind, was rendered one of the safest and finest on this

coast

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

. The town became a Roman colony, and was conquered by the Arabs in the 7th century. The place thereafter was subject either to the rulers of Tunis or of

Constantine

CONSTANTINE

, but the citizens were noted for their frequent revolts. They threw in their lot (c. 1530) with the pirate Khair-ed-Din, and subsequently received a Turkish garrison. Bizerta was captured by the Spaniards in 1535, but not long afterwards came under the Tunisian government. Centuries of neglect followed, and the ancient port was almost choked up, though the value of the fisheries saved the town from utter decay. Its strategical importance was one of. the causeswhich led.to the occupation of Tunisia by the French in 1881. In 1890 a concession for a new canal and harbour was granted to a company, and five years later the new port was formally opened. Since then the canal has been widened and deepened, and the naval port at Sidi Abdallah created.

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