La Goulette ( French pronunciation: [la ɡulɛt] , Italian : La Goletta ), in Arabic Halq al-Wadi ( حلق الوادي Ḥalq el-Wād ), is a municipality and the port of Tunis , Tunisia .
7-513: La Goulette is located at around 36°49′5″N 10°18′18″E / 36.81806°N 10.30500°E / 36.81806; 10.30500 on a sandbar between Lake Tūnis and the Gulf of Tunis . The port, located 12km east of Tunis, is the point of convergence of Tunisia's major road and rail networks. La Goulette is linked to Tunis by the TGM railway and to Europe by a ferry service. The name derives from
14-491: The Gulf of Tunis ( Mediterranean Sea ). The lake covers a total of 37 square kilometres, in contrast to its size its depth is very shallow. It was once the natural harbour of Tunis. The Tunis- Carthage connection was very important to the Romans , as it meant control over the fertile hinterland. The Romans therefore built a dam through the lake. The dam is used today as an expressway for automobiles and railway connecting Tunis to
21-540: The "gullet" or "river's throat", a channel where the city is located, and not from the ship type schooner , called goélette , gulet , goleta or goletta in French, Turkish, Spanish and Italian. In addition to its transit and cruise activities, the port of La Goulette also receives ships carrying cargoes such as cars, bulk cereals. It handles a large portion of the country's imports and much of its exports (principally phosphates, iron ore, and fruits and vegetables). However,
28-477: The development plan of the port provides for its specialization as a port exclusively reserved for passenger and tourist traffic. The kasbah fortress was built in 1535 by Charles I of Spain , but was captured by the Ottoman Turks in 1574. The remains of Hispano-Turkish fortifications lie inland. The port was a popular destination for summer holidays in the 19th century, and La Goulette's Sicilian town quarter
35-414: The harbour, La Goulette , and the coastal cities of Carthage, Sidi Bou Said , and La Marsa . The northern lake includes the island of Chikly , once home to a Spanish stronghold, and now (since 1993) a nature reserve. The lake continued to aggrade (an increase in land elevation, in this case of the lake bed, due to the deposition of sediment) during the 19th century. French colonial forces traversed
42-679: The lake with a 10-kilometer long, 450-meter wide, and 6-meter deep canal. Recently , the Tunisian government and Sama Dubai of the UAE (led by Dubai Governor Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ) have joint-ventured an investment agreement to develop the southern shore of the lake into a new commercial, residential and touristic center in Tunisia and the Mediterranean. Total costs of the investment, considered
49-465: Was commonly known as la Petite Sicile ( Little Sicily ). It was also home to a sizeable Jewish, Italian, and Maltese community. This Tunisia location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Lake of Tunis The Lake of Tunis ( Arabic : بحيرة تونس Buḥayra Tūnis ; French : Lac de Tunis ) is a natural lagoon located between the Tunisian capital city of Tunis and
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