Mahdia

35.50774722222211.048027777778Koordinaten: 35 ° 30 'N, 11 ° 3' O

Mahdia (Arabic المهدية, al - Mahdiya ) is located a Tunisian town with 45 977 inhabitants ( 2004), south of Monastir and southeast of Sousse.

Mahdia is a provincial center north of Sfax Tunisian. She has a major fishing port and connected industries for processing fish. The government Mahdia has an area of ​​2966 km ² with a population of about 380,000 inhabitants.

History

The city was founded by the Fatimids under the Caliph Abdallah al -Mahdi in 921. Mahdia was the capital of Ifriqiya and attacked in 1087 by ships from Genoa and Pisa. Some buildings still remain from the 10th and 11th centuries.

In 1390 the city was besieged as the basis of Muslim corsairs unsuccessfully by a Franco- Genoese Crusaders army.

In the center of the peninsula of Mahdia is the fortress of Al Borj Al Kebir. It was built under Turkish occupation for defense against the Spaniards.

1907 here the ship Fund of Mahdia was made.