Sūsah

Sūsah, also Sousse, town in eastern Tunisia, in Sūsah Governorate, on the Gulf of Hammamet (an arm of the Mediterranean Sea). It is a port and a commercial center. Major manufactures include transportation equipment, processed food (especially canned sardines and olive oil), and textiles. The Phoenicians established the community of Hadrumetum here about the 9th century bc. It was destroyed by the Vandals in the 5th century ad and was rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in the 6th century. Sūsah was an important port from the 9th to the 11th century, and it was revived as a port by the French in the late 19th century. The Great Mosque, a 9th-century fortress, and marketplaces are enclosed within the old quarter's ancient walls. Population (1994) 125,000.