Cape Guardafui

The Corporal Guardafui or Gardafui (in Somali: Gees Gardafuul, in Italian: Capo Guardafui), is a prominent cape on the eastern coast of Africa in the Guardafui Channel, which is located at the entrance, from the Arabian Sea, to the Gulf of Aden. It is the vertex of the so-called Horn of Africa. Administratively, it belongs to the autonomous region of Puntland of the Republic of Somalia, self-proclaimed as an independent state.

Its shore, at 51°27'52'E, is the second easternmost point of continental Africa after Cape Ras Hafun, the end of the small peninsula of the same name. Its adjacent town is called Ras Asir. The Guardafui channel (Marinka Gardafuul) is named after the cape.

Location

Cape Guardafui is located at 11°49′N 51°15′E / 11.817, 51.250, next to the Guardafui channel. The Socotra archipelago is located in the north of the Somali Sea.

Fifteen leagues (45 miles) west of Guardafui is Ras Filuk, a steep cliff jutting into the Gulf of Aden from the plain. It is believed that the mountain corresponds to the ancient Elephas Mons or Cape Elephant (in Arabic (Ras Filuk) described by Strabo.

History

Known as Aromata promontorium ('Promontory of aromatic [spices]) by the ancient Greeks, Guardafui was described as early as the I d. C. in the Erythrean Sea Voyage, along with other flourishing commercial establishments on the northern coast of Somalia.

The name "Guardafui" originated in the late Middle Ages by sailors using the Mediterranean lingua franca: "guarda Fui" in ancient Italian means "look and flee" (Italian: "guarda e fuggi"), as a reference to the danger of the cape.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Somali sailors banned entry to their ports along the coast, while They carried out trade exchanges with Aden and Mocha in adjacent Yemen using their own ships.

Due to the frequency of shipwrecks in the treacherous seas near Cape Guardafui, the British signed an agreement with Sultan Osman Mahamuud of the Majeerteen Sultanate, which controlled much of the northeastern Somali coast during the century XIX. The agreement stipulated that the British would pay annual subsidies to protect British shipwreck crews and guard the remains against looting. However, the agreement remained unratified, as the British feared that doing so "would give other powers a precedent for making agreements with the Somalis, who seemed ready to enter into relations with all comers."

Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid of the Hobyo Sultanate, who also controlled part of the coast, later granted concessions to a French hotel owner in Aden and a former French Army officer to build a lighthouse on the cape. Guardafui. Capital for the project was raised by a company in Marseille, but the deal subsequently fell through.

The "Guardafui lighthouse"

The cape has had a characteristic lighthouse since 1924, built by fascist Italy to facilitate the transit of ships between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.

The original name was "Francesco Crispi Lighthouse", in honor of the Italian politician who wanted to do it to facilitate navigation to Italian Somalia.

This cape has the peculiarity of having a huge 'Fascio litorio', which is currently being protected by the United Nations as a possible 'World Heritage Site'.