Toukabeur is a town in

Béja Governorate Béja Governorate ( ' ; ) is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It is in northern Tunisia and has a brief coastline relative to its size. It covers an area of 3,740 km² and had a population of 303,032 as of the 2014 census. Th ...

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 ...

located at 36°42′32″N, 9°31′16″E. Toukabeur is in the

Medjerda River The Medjerda River (), the classical antiquity, classical Bagradas, is a river in North Africa flowing from northeast Algeria through Tunisia before emptying into the Gulf of Tunis and Lake of Tunis. With a length of , it is the longest river of ...

valley, and 2 km west of Chaouach (Suas) and 7 kilometers northwest of

Majaz al Bab Majaz al Bab (), also known as Medjez el Bab, or as Membressa under the Roman Empire, is a town in northern Tunisia. It is located at the intersection of roads GP5 and GP6, in the ''Plaine de la Medjerda''. It has been a titular see of the Cathol ...

Membressa Majaz al Bab (), also known as Medjez el Bab, or as Membressa under the Roman Empire, is a town in northern Tunisia. It is located at the intersection of roads GP5 and GP6, in the ''Plaine de la Medjerda''. It has been a titular see of the Cathol ...

). Its

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

is 9024.

History

Antiquity

The area has numerous ruins from the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

lying in situ. An inscription of Marcus Aurelius indicates that the city had no status of a Roman city. The town appears to have taken its name from the pre-Roman

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

tombs, located at Chaouach 1 kilometer higher up the hillside. Chaouach was much older and larger settlement than Toukabeur during antiquity. Babelon mentions important buildings, such as two

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

es (including the Triumphal arch of Sextilius Celsus),

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

s and tombs. Other remains include a

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

, a large building called "the Hammam" whose function is unknown (possibly

thermal baths A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to prehis ...

) as well as a large number of pools, cisterns and wells. To the west of the town are rock tombs ( Haouanet).

World War II

During the

Tunisian Campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. Th ...

of World War II the British Army 11th infantry Brigade took the town April 1943.

Ancient bishopric

Toukabeur 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

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

through the

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vandal ...

and

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 ...

s. Known bishops include: * A bishop, Fortunatus of Thuccaburi, was recorded for the year 256. * a bishop named Megasius Tuccaborensis participated in the

Council of Carthage (411) The Councils of Carthage were church synods held during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries in the city of Carthage in Africa. The most important of these are described below. Synod of 251 In May 251 a synod, assembled under the presidency of Cyprian ...

. * In 646, Stephanus Tuccaboriensis participated in the Council of the Africa Proconsularis.

Modern

Today the springs that first attracted the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

s still feed the village and water the orchards still in their antique. There are still 6 ancient cisterns at the entrance of the village, though converted stables. All round the ruins of the Roman town lie scattered half buried in the soil among the orchards on the slopes down to the foot of the locality.http://chaouach.blogspot.com.au/

References