City of Tunisia: Bizert

Bizerta – an ancient city founded by the Phoenicians, who later became the largest pirated base of the Mediterranean.

By 1881, the city, as well as Tunisia as a whole, was trained by the French. They created a large naval base here, from which control over the coast of North Africa was carried out, and with the beginning of the Cold War, there were also stations of early warning for control over the Soviet courts in the Mediterranean. This ill-fated base almost led to war between Tunisia and France, since after the independence of Independence Tunisia in 1955 the French refused to leave their base in this city. It is noteworthy that their future national heroes were the main players of the conflict between the two countries: President Habib Burbibe and Charles de Gaulle. Twice is interesting and the fact that many streets in Tunisia are named after de Gaulle, and this is contrary to the fact that in the 1950s and 19th year he was considered the chief enemy of the Tunisian people.

In Bizerte preserved Two fortresses. Inside one of the fortresses she was covered with medieval Kasba – Old Town with narrow streets and old mosques. In addition, the city is interesting for monumental French colonial architecture.

It is noteworthy that Bizerta is related to our history: in the remote resident of the city there is a unique our Orthodox Church of Alexander Nevsky, Built in 1937. The history of the our community in Tunisia originates in 1920: 35 military vessels of the Black Sea squadron arrived in Bizerta, who left Russia closer to the end of the Civil War, when the Red Army finally took control of most of the ever-mighty empire. On these vessels, which came to the sea from the ports of Sevastopol and Odessa, for those of about 7 thousand our sailors and members of their families who did not want to serve the Communists forever. Some time, the squadron was in the sea, looking for a refuge, until consent was received from the French colonial authorities to enter the port of Bizerta. Subsequently, the majority of sailors and their family members migrated to France, as applies to the squadron, by the 1930s, the courts were transferred to the French, which part of them took into their fleet, and part were allowed on the layer.