Enfida

Submitted by editor on Wed, 03/24/2010 - 04:35

Enfidha

Enfidha
Enfidha is located in Tunisia
Enfidha
Location in Tunisia
Coordinates: 36°8′7″N 10°22′51″E / 36.13528°N 10.38083°E / 36.13528; 10.38083
Country Flag of Tunisia.svg Tunisia
Governorate Sousse Governorate
Time zone CET (UTC1)

Enfidha (or Dar-el-Bey, Arabic: دار البي) is a town in northeastern Tunisia with a population of approximately 10,000. It is visited by tourists on their way to Takrouna. Enfidha is located at around 36°8′7″N 10°22′51″E / 36.13528°N 10.38083°E / 36.13528; 10.38083Coordinates: 36°8′7″N 10°22′51″E / 36.13528°N 10.38083°E / 36.13528; 10.38083. It lies on the railway between Tunis and Sousse, approximately 45 km northeast of Sousse and a few kilometers inland from the Gulf of Hammamet. The nearby Enfidha – Hammamet International Airport opened in 2009, serving charter flights from several European countries.

The Enfida estate was granted by the bey Mahommed-es-Sadok to his chief minister, Khaireddin Pasha, in return for the confirmation by the sultan of Turkey in 1871, through the instrumentality of the pasha, of the right of succession to the beylik of members of Es-Sadok's family.

When Khaireddin left Tunisia for Constantinople some years later, he sold the estate to a Marseille company which named it Enfidaville. The attempt by the Tunisian authorities to block the sale of the estate to a French buyer is regarded as a contributory factor in the decision of the French government to bring Tunisia under colonial rule. The estate was later sold on to the Société Franco-africaine. Enfidaville became the chief settlement on the Enfida estate, a property of over 300,000 acres (1,200 km²) in the Sahel district of Tunisia, forming a rectangle between the towns of Hammamet, Sousse (Susa), Kairawan and Zaghwan. On this estate, devoted to the cultivation of cereals, olives, vines and to pasturage, were colonies of Europeans and natives. At Enfidaville, where was, as its native name indicates, a palace of the beys of Tunis, came a large horse-breeding establishment and a much-frequented weekly market.

About 8 km north of Enfidaville is Henshir Fraga, the ancient Uppenna, where are ruins of a large fortress and of a church in which were found mosaics with epitaphs of various bishops and martyrs. Uppenna has been reopened as Roman Catholic episcopal see since 1967, although mainly as a titular bishopric.

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