About Djerba

Legend has it that Djerba was the island of the Lotus-Eaters where Odysseus stranded on his voyage through the Mediterranean. The island, called Meninx until the third century AD, included three principal towns. One of these, whose modern name is Būrgū, is found near Midoun in the center of the island. The remains of a large town dating from the fourth century BC are signalled by high mounds and dense pottery, as well as by a major tomb, possibly that of a member of the Numidian royal family. Another city, on the southeast coast of the island at Meninx, was a major producer of murex dye, cited by Pliny the Elder as second only to Tyre in this respect; substantial amounts of coloured marble testify to its wealth. In the third century the same town appears to have been called Girba, whence the present name of the island. At least two bishops of Girba are known, Monnulus and Vincent, who assisted at the Councils of Carthage in 255 and 525 (Toulotte, Géographie de l'Afrique chrétienne Proconsulaire, Paris, 1892, pp. 353 and 380). Their cathedral can be identified with ruins to the southwest of Meninx. A third important town, on the south coast near the modern pottery village of Guellala; was probably the ancient Haribus. The island was densely inhabited in the Roman and Byzantine periods, and probably imported much of the grain consumed by its inhabitants. A collapse can be seen after 650 A.D., when the Justinianic plague may have struck the port of Meninx. Bassi Mosque During the Middle Ages, it was occupied by members of the Kharejite sect, known as the Ibadites. the Christians of Sicily and Aragon disputed its possession with the Ibadites of the island. Remains from this period include numerous small mosques dating as early as the twelfth century, as well as two substantial forts. The island was controlled twice by the Norman Kingdom of Sicily: in *1135 - 1158 and in 1284 - 1333. During the second of these periods it was organised as a feudal lordship, with the following Lords of Jerba: 1284 - 1305 Roger I, 1305 - 1307 and 1307 - 1310 Roger II (twice), 1310 Charles, 1310 Francis-Roger III; there were also royal governors, partially overlapping with the lordship terms: c.1305 - 1308 Simon de Montolieu, 1308 - 1315 Raymond Montaner. In 1513, after three years in exile in Rome, the Fregosi family returned to Genoa, Ottaviano was elected Doge, and his brother Federigo Fregosi (archbishop, later cardinal), having become his chief counsellor, was placed at the head of the army, and defended the republic against internal dangers (revolts of the Adorni and the Fieschi) and external dangers, notably suppression of the Barbary piracy: Cortogoli, a corsair from Tunis, blockaded the coast with a squadron, and within a few days had captured eighteen merchantmen; being given the command of the Genoese fleet, in which Andrea Doria was serving, Federigo surprised Cortogoli before Bizerta, effected a descent on the island of Djerba and returned to Genoa with great booty.