Borj El Hissar

Borj El Hissar — "the fortress on the spit" — sits at the western tip of Gharbi island, where the land tails off into a long sandbar pointing toward Sfax. The visible ruin is a small fort built in stages from the Roman period through the Aghlabid and Ottoman eras, with thick walls and the remains of a watchtower. The location is what makes it: cut off from the village by a stretch of beach, lapped by extremely shallow turquoise water, and almost always deserted.

The site is unguarded and free to walk through. A few cisterns and column drums lie around the ruins, and at low tide you can wade out along the sandbar for surprisingly long distances. The drive or cycle out from Mellita through palm groves and small villages is part of the appeal. Take water and a hat — there is no shade and no café anywhere nearby.

things to do sight archaeology
A story
Borj El Hissar stands on what was once an inland Roman settlement, but the slow subsidence of the Kerkennah seabed and the steady rise in sea level have turned a town into an island fort, then into a ruin slowly slipping under the tide. Walk the perimeter at low tide and you can still see the outlines of Roman houses now permanently submerged in the surrounding shallows.