La Goulette

La Goulette (, La Goletta), in Arabic Halq al-Wadi (حلق الوادي ), is a municipality and the port of Tunis, Tunisia.

La Goulette is located at around 36.81806°N, 10.305°W 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.

Origin of the name
The name derives from 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.

Transit activities
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, the development plan of the port provides for its specialization as a port exclusively reserved for passenger and tourist traffic.

History
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 was commonly known as la Petite Sicile (Little Sicily). It was also home to a sizeable Jewish, Italian, and Maltese community.