MAHDIA (also spelt Mehdia, Mehedia, etc.), a port of Tunisia, on the coast between the gulfs of Hammamet and Gabes, 47 m. by rail S.S.E. of Susa. Pop. 7,888, of whom 490 are Europeans. Mandia is built on a rocky peninsula which projects eastward about a mile beyond the normal coast line, and is not more than a quarter of a mile wide. The extremity of the penin sula is called Ras Mandia or Cape Africa—Africa being the name by which Mandia was designated by Froissart and other European historians during the middle ages and the Renaissance. In the centre of the peninsula and occupying its highest point is a citadel (16th century) ; another castle farther west is now used as a prison and is in the centre of the native town. The European quarter and the new port are on the south-west side of the peninsula. The port is available for small boats only; steamers anchor in the roadstead about a quarter of a mile from the shore. On the south-east, cut out of the rock, is the ancient harbour, or cothon, measuring about 48o ft. by 24o ft., the entrance being 42 ft. wide. There are manufactories of olive oil.
Mandia occupies the site of a Phoenician settlement on which grew a Roman centre, name unknown. After the Arab conquest of North Africa the town fell into decay. It was refounded in
912 by the first Fatimite caliph, 'Obaidallah-al-Mandi, after whom it was named. It became the port of Kairawan and was for centuries a city of considerable importance, largely owing to its great natural strength, and its position on the Mediterranean. It carried on an active trade with Egypt, Syria and Spain. The town was occupied by the Normans of Sicily in the 12th century, but after holding it for about twelve years they were driven out in 1159 by the Almohades. In 1390 a joint English and French force vainly besieged Mandia for sixty-one days. In the early part of the 16th century the corsair Dragut seized the town and made it his capital, but in 1550 the place was captured by the Spaniards, who held it until 1574. Before evacuating the town the Spaniards dismantled the fortifications. Near to Mandia, about 5 km. to the north-east of the lighthouse, were found in the sea, in 1908, at a depth of 4o metres, the remains of an ancient galley, of Athenian construction, laden with objects of art and sunk in the first century of our era. Beautiful statues of bronze and many fragments found by divers are gathered together in the Alaoui museum at Tunis.