The Island Where St. Paul Disembarked -- The Pirate Island
The map titled Plan de l'Isle de Tabarque à la Coste de Barbarie from 1764 depicts the island of Tabarca, situated off the Spanish Coast in the Mediterranean Sea. This map appeared in from Bellin's monumental 5 volume Petite Atlas Maritime.
Historically referred to as the Pirate Island, Tabarca was known before 1700 as Illa de Sant Pau (Saint Paul's Island) or Illa Plana (Flat Island). It is believed to be the island where St. Paul disembarked. Up to the end of the 18th century, the island served as a refuge for Barbary pirates, who used it as a base for raids on the Levantine coast.
The island's current name is derived from the Tunisian islet and town of Tabarka, which was part of the Republic of Genoa until it was conquered by the Bey of Tunis in 1741. In 1760, Charles III of Spain ordered the fortification and repopulation of the Spanish island. A group of Genoese sailors, who had been shipwrecked near the Tunisian Tabarka, were rescued and settled on the island.
Upon their arrival, the Genoese were initially moved to Alicante, where they temporarily resided in the Jesuit School, vacant after the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain. Eventually, they were relocated to Tabarca along with a Spanish garrison. The military engineer Fernando Méndez Ras designed a fortified town, constructing walls, bulwarks, warehouses, and barracks. From 1770, the island was renamed Nova Tabarca (New Tabarca in both Valencian and Latin).
Although the Genoese settlers assimilated, abandoning their language in favor of Valencian and later Spanish (both languages are currently spoken on the islet), their Italian origin remains evident in the surnames common on the island. Tabarca is twinned with Carloforte on the Sardinian San Pietro Island, which was also populated by Genoese from Tunisian Tabarka.
Key structures from the period, such as the gateways, the Governor's House (currently a hotel), and the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, completed in 1779.
The map features several key geographic and man-made structures, including Fort ou Loge de Gouverneur, Fort à montée raée, Tour Engane, and Tour Paroise. The western coast shows a destroyed pier, Mole Détruit, and warehouses such as Magasins à blé, reflecting the island’s logistical role. Windmills (Moulins à vent) are also marked.
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772) was among the most important mapmakers of the eighteenth century. In 1721, at only the age of 18, he was appointed Hydrographer to the French Navy. In August 1741, he became the first Ingénieur de la Marine of the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine (the French Hydrographic Office) and was named Official Hydrographer of the French King.
During his term as Official Hydrographer, the Dépôt was the one of the most active centers for the production of sea charts and maps in Europe. Their output included a folio-format sea atlas of France, the Neptune Francois. He also produced a number of sea atlases of the world, including the Atlas Maritime and the Hydrographie Francaise. These gained fame and distinction all over Europe and were republished throughout the eighteenth and even in the nineteenth century.
Bellin also produced smaller format maps such as the 1764 Petit Atlas Maritime, containing 580 finely-detailed charts. He also contributed a number of maps for the 15-volume Histoire Generale des Voyages of Antoine François Prévost.
Bellin set a very high standard of workmanship and accuracy, cementing France's leading role in European cartography and geography during this period. Many of his maps were copied by other mapmakers across the continent.