Kalâa Kebira is a town and commune in the

Sousse Governorate Sousse Governorate ( ' ; ) is one of the 24 governorates 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 762,281 (2024 census). The capital is Sous ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. As of 2004 it had a population of 45,990. Kalâa Kebira was used as the host of the 2012 UNAF U-17 Tournament.

History

During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

it was the site of a ''

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by Roman law, law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilitie ...

'' (town) of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) 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 ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

Byzacena Byzacena (or Byzacium) (, ''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, the Roman emperor Dioclet ...

called Gurza. Gurza was also the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of an

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

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

,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 an ...

ric. It was in the reign of the

Aghlabid dynasty The Aghlabid dynasty () was an Arab dynasty centered in Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia) from 800 to 909 that conquered parts of Sicily, Southern Italy, and possibly Sardinia, nominally as vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Aghlabids ...

that the nucleus of the city was founded, in the place known as

El Ksar El Ksar ( ') is a town and commune in the Gafsa Governorate, Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeas ...

, 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: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

with a door Unique on the eastern face leading to the

market place A marketplace, market place, or just market, 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 commune was created on 19 February 1921.

Economy

The town is renowned for its

olive grove Olive Grove was The Wednesday F.C.'s first permanent football ground, home to the club for just over a decade at the end of the 19th century. It was located on the site of what is now Sheffield City Council's Olive Grove Depot, near Queens Roa ...

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

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

History

Economy

See also

References

External links