Borj El Kebir, Ottoman fort in Houmt Souk, Tunisia
Borj El Kebir is a rectangular fort in Houmt Souk with four corner towers and thick walls built from local stone. The interior contains vaulted rooms and various spaces that served both defensive purposes and daily operations during occupation.
The fort was built at the end of the 16th century on the site of an earlier Fatimid palace and served as a key defensive position. It played an important role during maritime conflicts of that period in Tunisian history.
The southeast corner holds a prayer room that is older than the fort itself and shows how military and religious spaces were combined in Tunisian building design. This feature reveals how sacred and defensive purposes existed side by side in the architecture of this region.
You enter through a main gateway and move through different levels and rooms of the structure. It is helpful to wear comfortable shoes and bring water, especially during warm weather.
From the terraced area of the fort, you can see both the Cap Mahdia headland and the remains of an ancient harbor from the Punic era. These archaeological traces show how this strategic location was occupied by different peoples across the centuries.
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