Tipasa

Last updated
Tipasa
Tipaza
Tipasa remain 2.JPG
Algeria location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Tipasa
Location in Algeria
Coordinates: 36°35′31″N2°26′58″E / 36.59194°N 2.44944°E / 36.59194; 2.44944
Official nameTipasa
TypeCultural
Criteriaiii, iv
Designated1982 (6th session)
Reference no. 193
Region Arab States
Endangered 2002–2006

Tipasa, sometimes distinguished as Tipasa in Mauretania, was a colonia in the Roman province Mauretania Caesariensis, nowadays called Tipaza, and located in coastal central Algeria. Since 1982, [1] it has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It was declared a World Heritage Site in danger in 2002, [2] but was removed from the danger list in 2006 [3] following conservation efforts.

Contents

History

Punic trading post

Initially the city was a small ancient Punic trading-post.

Roman colony

Conquered by Ancient Rome, it was turned into a military colony by the emperor Claudius for the conquest of the kingdoms of Mauretania. [4] Afterwards it became a municipium called Colonia Aelia Augusta Tipasensium, that reached the population of 20,000 inhabitants in the fourth century according to historian Gsell. [5]

The Roman city was built on three small hills which overlooked the sea, nearly 20 km. east from Caesarea (capital of Mauretania Caesariensis). Of the houses, most of which stood on the central hill, no traces remain; but there are ruins of three churches — the Great Basilica and the Basilica Alexander on the western hill, and the Basilica of St Salsa on the eastern hill, two cemeteries, the baths, theatre, amphitheatre and nymphaeum. The line of the ramparts can be distinctly traced and at the foot of the eastern hill the remains of the ancient harbour. [6]

The basilicas are surrounded by cemeteries, which are full of coffins, all of stone and covered with mosaics. The basilica of St. Salsa, which has been excavated by Stéphane Gsell, consists of a nave and two aisles, and still contains a mosaic. The Great Basilica served for centuries as a quarry, but it is still possible to make out the plan of the building, which was divided into seven aisles. Under the foundations of the church are tombs hewn out of the solid rock. Of these one is circular, with a diameter of 18 m and space for 24 coffins. [6]

Under Roman rule the city acquired greater commercial and military importance because of its harbour and its central position on the system of Roman coastal roads in North Africa. A wall of approximately 7,500 feet (2,300 metres) was built around the city for defense against nomadic tribes, and Roman public buildings and districts of houses were constructed within the enclosure. Tipasa became an important centre of Christianity in the 3rd century. The first Christian inscription in Tipasa dates to 238, and the city saw the construction of numerous Christian religious buildings in the later 3rd and 4th centuries.....About 372 Tipasa withstood an assault by Firmus, the leader of a Berber rebellion that had overrun the nearby cities of Caesarea (modern Cherchell) and Icosium (modern Algiers). Tipasa then served as the base for the Roman counter-campaign. However, Tipasa's fortifications did not prevent the city from being conquered by the Vandals about 429, bringing to an end the prosperity that the city had enjoyed during the Roman period. In 484, during the persecution of the Catholic church by the Vandal king Huneric, the Catholic bishop of Tipasa was expelled and replaced with an Arian bishop—prompting many inhabitants of the city to flee to Spain. In the ensuing decades the city fell into ruin. Encyclopædia Britannica [7]

Commercially Tipasa was of considerable importance, but it was not distinguished in art or learning. Christianity was early introduced, and in the third century Tipasa was an episcopal see, [6] now inscribed in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees. [8]

Actual ruins of Roman Tipasa Ruines romaines de Tipaza.jpg
Actual ruins of Roman Tipasa

Most of the inhabitants continued to be non-Christian until, according to the legend, Salsa, a Christian maiden, threw the head of their serpent idol into the sea, whereupon the enraged populace stoned her to death. The body, miraculously recovered from the sea, was buried, on the hill above the harbour, in a small chapel which gave place subsequently to the stately basilica. Salsa's martyrdom took place in the 4th century. In 484 the Vandal king Huneric (477‑484) sent an Arian bishop to Tipaza; whereupon many of the inhabitants fled to Spain, while many of the remainder were cruelly persecuted. [6] [9]

Decline

Tipasa was partially destroyed by the Vandals in 430, but was rebuilt by the Byzantines one century later. Tipasa revived for a brief time during the Byzantine occupation in the 6th century but was given the Arabic language name, Tefassed, when Arabs arrived there. The term translated means badly damaged[ clarification needed ]. [10]

Christian tomb from a Roman Tipasa basilica Salsa 022.jpg
Christian tomb from a Roman Tipasa basilica

In the third century Christianity was worshipped by all the Romanised Berbers and Roman colonists of Tipasa. From this period comes the oldest Christian epitaph in Roman Africa dated October 17, 237 AD. [11] In Tipasa were built the biggest basilicas of actual Algeria: the Alexander basilica and the basilica of Saint Salsa.

At the end of the seventh century the city was destroyed by the Arabs and reduced to ruins. [12]

Tribute to Albert Camus

Inside the Roman ruins, facing the sea and Mount Chenoua, a stele was erected in 1961 in honor of Albert Camus with this phrase in French, extracted from his work Noces à Tipasa: “I understand here what is called glory: the right to love beyond measure " (« Je comprends ici ce qu'on appelle gloire : le droit d'aimer sans mesure. »). [13]

Modern city

In 1857, the area was settled again with the creation of the city of Tipaza that now has nearly 30,000 inhabitants. The town and its surroundings is home to the largest Berber-speaking group of western Algeria, the Chenoua people.

Climate change

As a coastal heritage site, Tipasa is vulnerable to sea level rise. In 2022, the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report included it in the list of African cultural sites which would be threatened by flooding and coastal erosion by the end of the century, but only if climate change followed RCP 8.5, which is the scenario of high and continually increasing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the warming of over 4 °C. [14] , and is no longer considered very likely. [15] [16] The other, more plausible scenarios result in lower warming levels and consequently lower sea level rise: yet, sea levels would continue to increase for about 10,000 years under all of them. [17] Even if the warming is limited to 1.5 °C, global sea level rise is still expected to exceed 2–3 m (7–10 ft) after 2000 years (and higher warming levels will see larger increases by then), consequently exceeding 2100 levels of sea level rise under RCP 8.5 (~0.75 m (2 ft) with a range of 0.5–1 m (2–3 ft)) well before the year 4000. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hippo Regius</span> Ancient name for the modern city of Annaba, Algeria

Hippo Regius is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, Algeria. It historically served as an important city for the Phoenicians, Berbers, Romans, and Vandals. Hippo was the capital city of the Vandal Kingdom from 435 to 439 AD. until it was shifted to Carthage following the Vandal capture of Carthage (439).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casbah of Algiers</span> Citadel and neighborhood in Algiers, Algeria

The Casbah is the citadel of Algiers in Algeria and the traditional quarter clustered around it. In 1992, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed Kasbah of Algiers a World Cultural Heritage Site, as "There are the remains of the citadel, old mosques and Ottoman-style palaces as well as the remains of a traditional urban structure associated with a deep-rooted sense of community."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timgad</span> Roman ruins in Algeria

Timgad was a Roman city in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria. It was founded by the Roman Emperor Trajan around 100 CE. The full name of the city was Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi. Emperor Trajan named the city in commemoration of his mother Marcia, eldest sister Ulpia Marciana, and father Marcus Ulpius Traianus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerkouane</span>

Kerkouane or Kerkuane is the site of an ancient Punic city in north-eastern Tunisia, near Cape Bon. Kerkouane was one of the most important Punic cities, with Carthage, Hadrumetum, and Utica. This Phoenician city was probably abandoned during the First Punic War and was not rebuilt by the Romans. It had existed for almost 400 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauretania Caesariensis</span> Roman province in northwest Africa

Mauretania Caesariensis was a Roman province located in what is now Algeria in the Maghreb. The full name refers to its capital Caesarea Mauretaniae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherchell</span> Town in Tipaza, Algeria

Cherchell is a town on Algeria's Mediterranean coast, 89 kilometers (55 mi) west of Algiers. It is the seat of Cherchell District in Tipaza Province. Under the names Iol and Caesarea, it was formerly a Roman colony and the capital of the kingdoms of Numidia and Mauretania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theveste</span> Roman colony in present Algeria

Theveste was a Roman colony situated in the present Tébessa, Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Djémila</span> Archaeological site in Algeria

Djémila, formerly Cuicul, is a small mountain village in Algeria, near the northern coast east of Algiers, where some of the best preserved Roman ruins in North Africa are found. It is situated in the region bordering the Constantinois and Petite Kabylie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chlef</span> City in Algeria

Chlef is the capital of Chlef Province, Algeria. Located in the north of Algeria, 200 kilometres (120 mi) west of the capital, Algiers, it was founded in 1843, as Orléansville, on the ruins of Roman Castellum Tingitanum. In 1962, it was renamed al-Asnam, but after the devastating earthquake on October 10, 1980, it has borne its present name, Chlef, which is derived from the name of the Chelif River, the longest river in Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thubursicum</span>

Khamissa, ancient Thubursicum Numidarum or Thubursicum, is an Ancient Roman and Byzantine archeological site, in Souk Ahras Province of northeastern Algeria.

Icosium was a Berber city that was part of Numidia which became an important Roman colony and an early medieval bishopric in the casbah area of actual Algiers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania</span> Historic site in Tipaza Province, Algeria

The Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania is a funerary monument located on the road between Cherchell and Algiers, in Tipaza Province, Algeria. The mausoleum is the tomb where the Numidian Berber King Juba II and the Queen Cleopatra Selene II, sovereigns of Numidia and Mauretania Caesariensis, were allegedly buried. However, their human remains have not been found at the site, perhaps due to tomb raiding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caesarea in Mauretania</span> Ancient city and bishopric in Roman North Africa

Caesarea in Mauretania was a Roman colony in Roman-Berber North Africa. It was the capital of Mauretania Caesariensis and is now called Cherchell, in modern Algeria. In the present time Caesarea is used as a titular see for Catholic and Eastern Orthodox bishops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madauros</span>

Madauros was a Roman-Berber city and a former diocese of the Catholic Church in the old state of Numidia, in present-day Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeological Museum of Cherchell</span> Archaeological museum in Tipaza Province, Algeria.

The Archaeological Museum of Cherchell is an archaeological museum located in the center of the seaport town of Cherchell in Tipaza Province, Algeria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Auzia</span> Roman-Berber colonia in Algeria

Auzia was a Roman-Berber colonia in present-day Sour El-Ghozlane, Algeria. The area was located around 150 km south-east of Algiers, in the ancient province of Mauretania Caesariensis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tipaza</span> Place in Algeria

Tipaza is the capital of the Tipaza Province, Algeria. When it was part of the Roman Empire, it was called Tipasa. The modern town was founded in 1857, and is chiefly remarkable for its ancient ruins and sandy littoral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartennae</span> Ancient city in Mauretania Caesariensis

Cartennae or Cartenna was an ancient, Carthaginian, and Roman port at present-day Ténès, Algeria. Under the Romans, it was part of the province of Mauretania Caesariensis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medina of Sousse, Tunisia</span> Historic site in Governorate of Sousse, Tunisia

The Medina of Sousse is a Medina quarter in Sousse, Governorate of Sousse, Tunisia. Designated by the UNESCO a World Heritage Site in 1988, it is a typical example of the architecture of the early centuries of Islam in Maghreb. It encompasses a Kasbah, fortifications and the Great Mosque of Sousse. The Medina today houses the Archaeological Museum of Sousse. A number of Punic steles were discovered in the Medina, between the Ribat and the Great Mosque, in the 19th and 20th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman colonies in Berber Africa</span>

Roman colonies in Berber Africa are the cities—populated by Roman citizens—created in North Africa by the Roman Empire, mainly in the period between the reigns of Augustus and Trajan.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Tipasa". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  2. ↑ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Tipasa (Algeria) Added to List of World Heritage in Danger". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  3. ↑ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "UNESCO World Heritage Centre - State of Conservation (SOC 2006) Tipasa (Algeria)". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  4. ↑ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Tipasa". whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  5. ↑ "Archivo de la Frontera | EL LIMES ROMANO DE ÁFRICA IX – AELIA AUGUSTA TIPASENSIUM (Tipasa – Argelia, 1982-84)". www.archivodelafrontera.com (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Wikisource-logo.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tipasa (1)". Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 1003.
  7. ↑ Roman Tipasa
  8. ↑ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ISBN   978-88-209-9070-1), p. 991
  9. ↑ Stefano Antonio Morcelli, Africa christiana, Volume I, Brescia 1816, pp. 327–328
  10. ↑ Tipasa, Morocco, Algeria, & Tunisia: a travel survival kit, Geoff Crowther & Hugh Finlay, Lonely Planet, 2nd Edition, April 1992, pp. 286 - 287.
  11. ↑ Revue africaine, Société historique algérienne, éd. la Société, 1866, p. 487
  12. ↑ Toutain Jules. Fouilles de M. Gsell à Tipasa : Basilique de Sainte Salsa. In: Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire T. 11, 1891. p. 179-185.
  13. ↑ "Au sujet de la stèle de Camus dans les ruines de Tipaza".
  14. ↑ Trisos, C.H., I.O. Adelekan, E. Totin, A. Ayanlade, J. Efitre, A. Gemeda, K. Kalaba, C. Lennard, C. Masao, Y. Mgaya, G. Ngaruiya, D. Olago, N.P. Simpson, and S. Zakieldeen 2022: Chapter 9: Africa. In Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke,V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 2043–2121
  15. ↑ Hausfather, Zeke; Peters, Glen (29 January 2020). "Emissions – the 'business as usual' story is misleading". Nature. 577 (7792): 618–20. Bibcode:2020Natur.577..618H. doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00177-3 . PMID   31996825.
  16. ↑ Hausfather, Zeke; Peters, Glen (20 October 2020). "RCP8.5 is a problematic scenario for near-term emissions". PNAS. 117 (45): 27791–27792. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2017124117 . PMC   7668049 .
  17. ↑ Technical Summary. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (PDF). IPCC. August 2021. p. TS14. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  18. ↑ IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 3−32, doi:10.1017/9781009157896.001.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.