History Of Bizerte

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Bizerte is a city of great history that date back to the 8th century BC when the Phoenicians constructed the port and called it Hippo Zarytus and the first canal that linked Bizerte Lake to the Mideterranean Sea .
Due to its strategic position on the Mediterranean Coast , the city suffered from numerous attacks throughout history . In 146 BC , the Romans controlled over the port during the Punic wars and rebuilt the port giving it the name of Hippo Diarrhytus . Later on , the Vandals and Byzantines occupied it until the Arab conquest of Tunisia in 678 AD , when the city was known as Bizerte . In the perioe from 1535 till 1570 the Spanish spread their power over the port until the Ottomans took over it to be an important base for Muslim corsairs .
Although the importance of Bizerte port declined for a long period until the inauguration of the Suez canal and especially after digging a new canal for handeling the steamships in 1895 .