Kalâa Kebira is a town and commune in the

Sousse Governorate Sousse Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It is beside the eastern coast of Tunisia in the north-east of the country and covers an area of 2,621 km2 and has a population of 674,971 (2014 census). ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. As of 2004 it had a population of 45,990. Kalâa Kebira was used as the host of the

2012 UNAF U-17 Tournament The 2012 UNAF U-17 Tournament was the ninth edition of the UNAF U-17 Tournament. The tournament took place in Kalâa Kebira, Tunisia, on March 20–24, 2012. Algeria won the competition after finishing first in the round robin stage. Participants ...

History

During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

it was the site of a '' civitas'' (town) of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

Byzacena Byzacena (or Byzacium) ( grc, Βυζάκιον, ''Byzakion'') was a Late Roman province in the central part of Roman North Africa, which is now roughly Tunisia, split off from Africa Proconsularis. History At the end of the 3rd century AD, t ...

called Gurza. Gurza was also the seat of an

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...

episcopal see of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

,Gurzensis
at catholic-hierarchy.org. survives as a

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

ric. It was in the reign of the

Aghlabid dynasty The Aghlabids ( ar, الأغالبة) were an Arab dynasty of emirs from the Najdi tribe of Banu Tamim, who ruled Ifriqiya and parts of Southern Italy, Sicily, and possibly Sardinia, nominally on behalf of the Abbasid Caliph, for about a cent ...

that the nucleus of the city was founded, in the place known as El Ksar, which consists of a very small city surrounded by a very high

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

with a door Unique on the eastern face leading to the

market place A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...

. The commune was created on 19 February 1921.

Economy

The town is renowned for its

olive grove The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' 'M ...

s, from which it derives its nickname of "capital of the olives". The economy of Kalâa Kebira therefore relies mainly on agriculture. The industrial sector is therefore focused on the agro-food industry (olive oil). However, the industrial zone, which already extends over 34 hectares2 and which is constantly developing to the north-east of the city, also houses export-oriented activities such as the textile and clothing industry but also Pharmaceutical industry, with the presence of UNIMED3 laboratories.

References

External links

* Populated places in Tunisia Communes of Tunisia Tunisia geography articles needing translation from French Wikipedia {{Tunisia-geo-stub

History

Economy

See also

References

External links