Bastion de France

The Bastion de France was a trading post founded in the sixteenth century by French merchants of Corsican origin who had established themselves in North Africa near Annaba.

The Bastion de France was built in 1561 by Tomasino Lenche to secure his family's lucrative position in the coral fisheries off the North African coast.

[6] In 1552 Tomasino established the Magnifique Compagnie du corail (Magnificent Coral Company) together with his nephews Visconte (c.1545-1580) and Antonio Lenche (c.1540-1588), and his Porrata cousins from Morsiglia.

In 1608 Algiers made a new contract favouring merchants from Bordeaux, which was seeking to oust Marseille from its preeminent position in the luxury trades, and push the Lenche family out of their foothold.

During the period of peace that began in 1617 Jean-Louis du Mas de Castellane was sent by the Ottoman Sultan to negotiate the restoration of the Bastion to the French; while he was in Algiers however war broke out again and he was taken captive, and only released in 1619.

[12] In 1619, exhausted by this constant destruction, Thomas II Lenche sold his rights over the Bastion to the duc de Guise, governor of Provence, in exchange for an annual pension of 4,800 livres tournois.

On 19 September 1628, Sanson Napollon [fr], a cousin of the Lenches, signed a treaty re-establishing safe passage for merchant ships.

As well as resuming the coral fishery, Sanson Napollon opened a new base on Cap Rosa to capitalise on the illegal wheat trade.

The buildings of Bastion de France, El Kala and Cap Rosa were destroyed, although an agreement with Algiers in 1640 allowed for them to be rebuilt.