Tabarka

Tabarka
طبرقة
Tabarka
Location in Tunisia
Coordinates: 36°57′16″N 8°45′29″E / 36.95444°N 8.75806°E / 36.95444; 8.75806Coordinates: 36°57′16″N 8°45′29″E / 36.95444°N 8.75806°E / 36.95444; 8.75806
Country Tunisia
Governorate Jendouba Governorate
Elevation 15.4 ft (4.7 m)
Population (2014)
 • City 19,819
 • Density 10,090/sq mi (3,894/km2)
 • Urban 41,293
 • Urban density 80/sq mi (31/km2)
 • Metro 48.993
 • Metro density 170/sq mi (64/km2)
Time zone UTC1 (CET)
Postal Code 8110

Tabarka (Arabic: طبرقة‎  ṭbarqa, Berber: Tbarga or Tabarka, Phoenician: Ṭabarqa, Latin: Thabraca, Θαύβρακα in Ancient Greek [1][2] also called Tbarga by locals) is a coastal town located in north-western Tunisia, at about 36°57′16″N 8°45′29″E / 36.95444°N 8.75806°E / 36.95444; 8.75806, close to the border with Algeria. It has been famous for its coral fishing, the Coralis Festival of underwater photography[3] and the annual jazz festival.[4] Tabarka's history is a colorful mosaic of Berber, Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman and Islamic-Ottoman civilizations. The town is dominated by an offshore rock on which is built a Genoese castle. Nationalist leader Habib Bourguiba, later to become president of post-independence Tunisia, was exiled here by the French colonial authorities in 1952.[5].

History

Tarbarka island, 17th century.

Although older sources placed Thabraca within the Roman province of Numidia, recent ones agree in placing it in the Roman province of Africa, known also as Africa Proconsularis.[6][7][8][9] It was a Roman colony. It was connected by a road with Simitthu, which it served as a port for the export of its famous marble. At Thabraca the rebellious Roman official Gildo, the brother of Firmus, committed suicide. Under the Vandal king Gaiseric it had a monastery for men and a convent for women.

Fort Diagram

From 1540 to 1742, the Genoese maintained a garrison on an island, also called Tabarka, which lies about 365 yards off the town. In 1540 the island was given by the Ottoman Bey of Tunis as a concession to the Genoese family of Lomellini.[10] The Genoese were in the service of Spain during 1553 at the request of Emperor Charles V who was interested in coral fishing. The Lomellini were part of the circle of Andrea Doria, Doge of Genoa and were related to parental ties to the Grimaldi family. The grant was possibly due to a secret ransom for the release of the pirate Turkish Dragut, captured in 1540 by Giannettino Doria, nephew of Andrea Doria. The Lomellini colonized Tabarca with a group of inhabitants of Pegli,[11] near Genoa, where they had various properties and a huge palace. The community of Pegliesi lived in Tabarka for several centuries.

In 1738 due to the exhaustion of the coral reefs and the deterioration of relations with the Arab population a large group of 'Tabarchini' moved to San Pietro Island off Sardinia, then uninhabited, where they founded a new town of Carloforte. The transfer was made possible thanks to the King of Sardinia, Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia who wanted to colonize those of his lands which were not yet inhabited. The name of Carloforte was chosen in honor of the sovereign. Another group of Tabarchini was resettled in the town of Calasetta on the adjacent Island of Sant'Antioco, whose population still speaks a variant of Genoese dialect originating from Tabarka.[12] Others were moved to the Spanish island of New Tabarca.[13] In 1741 the Genoese fortress surrendered to the (nominally Ottoman, de facto autonomous) Bey of Tunis. At Tabarka, the ruins consists of a pit once used as a church and some fragments of walls which belonged to Christian buildings. There were also two Ottoman Turkish fortresses, one of which has been repaired.

Close View

Under French colonial rule it was annexed to the civil district of Souk el-Arba, now in the Tunisian governorate of Jendouba, and a rather important fishing centre. Tabarka Jazz Festival was established in 1973.

Ecclesiastical history

Thabraca became a Christian bishopric that is no longer a residential see but is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees.[9]

View Of Tabarka's Fort
Snow In Tabarka's Forest
Tabarka Snowfall In a Forest

was also the seat of an ancient Bishopric and in antiquity it had a monastery for men and one for women,[14] and several church Buildings and Christian cemeteries have been uncovered.[15] The city contains several Christian cemeteries, many of the tombs covered with curious mosaics. An inscription (C.I.L., VIII, 173-82) mentions the cult of the martyr Anastasia and her companions.

Bishops

The bishops of Thabraca, who met with the other bishops of Proconsular Africa, included:

  • Victoricus, at the Council of Carthage (256)[16]
  • Rusticianus, at the conference of Carthage in 411, where his competitor was the Donatist Charentius; he also signed in 416 the letter from the council of Proconsular Africa to Pope Innocent I;
  • Clarissimus, who in 646 signed the letter from the same Council to Patriarch Paul II of Constantinople against the Monothelites.

The Bishopric was founded during the Roman Empire and survived through the arian Vandal and Orthodox Byzantine empires, only ceasing to function with the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. The diocese was re-founded in name at least in the 20th century as a titular see of the Roman Catholic church.[17][18]

Titular bishops

  • Pierre Brigot, (22 Jan 1755 Appointed – 8 Nov 1791)
  • St. Louis Gabriel Taurin Dufresse, (24 Jul 1798 Appointed – 14 Sep 1815)
  • Edward Kernan (6 Feb 1818 Appointed – 19 Nov 1824)
  • Rémi Gaulin † (10 May 1833 Appointed – 14 Jan 1840 Succeeded, Bishop of Kingston, Ontario)
  • Bernardino di Milia, (27 Mar 1884 Appointed – 4 Jun 1891)
  • Antonin Guillermain, (12 Jan 1895 Appointed – 14 Jul 1896)
  • Henri Streicher, (1 Feb 1897 Appointed – 2 Jun 1933)
  • Auguste-Joseph-Marie Cogneau (23 Jun 1933 Appointed – 12 Apr 1952)
  • Georges Kettel, (24 Mar 1953 Appointed – 10 Nov 1959)
  • Charles Quentin Bertram Olwell, (19 Jan 1961 Appointed – 30 Jan 1972)
  • Antônio Agostinho Marochi (27 Sep 1973 Appointed – 2 Feb 1976)
  • Sebastian Acol Dalis (18 Nov 1987 Appointed – 27 Oct 2004 Died)
  • Pedro Joaquin Hernández Cantarero, (12 Feb 2005 Appointed – )[18]

Weather

Climate

The weather in Tabarka is usually unstable depending on the year. Summer is mostly mild and dry since it barely rains in July and August. The average temperatures for this season is 28.2 °C (82.8 °F). As for winter, it is mostly rainy and cold. Some snow can be seen during this time of the year. The average temperature for this season is 7.4 °C (45.3 °F).

Climate data for Tabarka 1981-2010
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 28.6
(83.5)		 24
(75)		 36.6
(97.9)		 37
(99)		 41.3
(106.3)		 47.1
(116.8)		 46.5
(115.7)		 48.3
(118.9)		 43.2
(109.8)		 40
(104)		 30.7
(87.3)		 14.7
(58.5)		 48.3
(118.9)
Average high °C (°F) 15.1
(59.2)		 15.8
(60.4)		 17.9
(64.2)		 20.7
(69.3)		 23.6
(74.5)		 30.3
(86.5)		 30.9
(87.6)		 31.4
(88.5)		 29.7
(85.5)		 25.3
(77.5)		 20.9
(69.6)		 16.3
(61.3)		 23.2
(73.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) 7.4
(45.3)		 11.7
(53.1)		 13.5
(56.3)		 15.5
(59.9)		 18.4
(65.1)		 23
(73)		 25.4
(77.7)		 26
(79)		 25.5
(77.9)		 17.5
(63.5)		 11.1
(52)		 7.1
(44.8)		 16.8
(62.3)
Average low °C (°F) 2.6
(36.7)		 4.6
(40.3)		 9.1
(48.4)		 10.4
(50.7)		 13.3
(55.9)		 17.7
(63.9)		 20
(68)		 20.6
(69.1)		 19.3
(66.7)		 11.7
(53.1)		 7.4
(45.3)		 1.4
(34.5)		 11.5
(52.7)
Record low °C (°F) −5.8
(21.6)		 −5.5
(22.1)		 −0.1
(31.8)		 −0.7
(30.7)		 0
(32)		 9
(48)		 10.1
(50.2)		 11.8
(53.2)		 11
(52)		 −5
(23)		 −4.8
(23.4)		 −8.7
(16.3)		 −8.7
(16.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 226
(8.9)		 183
(7.2)		 80
(3.15)		 61
(2.4)		 37
(1.46)		 15
(0.59)		 3
(0.12)		 6
(0.24)		 43
(1.69)		 89
(3.5)		 112
(4.41)		 192
(7.56)		 1,047
(41.22)
Average rainy days 18 18 11 8 4 2 1 3 5 10 14 19 113
Mean monthly sunshine hours 62.5 82.4 120.2 135.4 157.6 210.2 250.6 234.2 112.2 74.0 59.8 41.2 1,540.3
Source #1: Climate-Data.org,[19] Weather2Travel for rainy days and sunshine[20]
Source #2: Voodoo Skies for record temperatures[21]
Tabarka mean sea temperature[20]
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
15 °C (59 °F) 15 °C (59 °F) 15 °C (59 °F) 15 °C (59 °F) 17 °C (63 °F) 21 °C (70 °F) 24 °C (75 °F) 25 °C (77 °F) 24 °C (75 °F) 22 °C (72 °F) 19 °C (66 °F) 16 °C (61 °F)

Transport

The airport in Tabarka was named Airport 7 Novembre until the Tunisian revolution; it was then renamed Tabarka-Ain Draham International Airport.

A view from Tabarka port.
Harbor

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary". Archived from the original on 2014-02-28. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Chapot, V. (1928). The Roman World. Knopf. p. 385. ISBN 9780819603678. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Elżbieta Lisowscy, DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Tunisia, Dorling Kindersley 2011 p.41
  4. ↑ Donna Wheeler, Paul Clammer & Emilie Filou, Tunisia: Lonely Planet, 2010 p.284
  5. ↑ Derek Hopwood & Sue Mi Terry, Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia:The Tragedy of Longevity, Springer 2016 p.72
  6. ↑ Hornblower, S.; Spawforth, A.; Eidinow, E. (2012). The Oxford Classical Dictionary. OUP Oxford. p. 33. ISBN 9780199545568. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Conant, J. (2012). Staying Roman: Conquest and Identity in Africa and the Mediterranean, 439-700. Cambridge University Press. p. 48. ISBN 9780521196970. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Saint Augustine; Rotelle, J.E.; Teske, R.J. (2001). Letters 1-99. New City Press. p. 264. ISBN 9781565481633. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  9. 1 2 Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 979
  10. ↑ Thomas Allison Kirk, Genoa and the Sea, JHU Press, 2013
  11. ↑ http://www.lastampa.it/2012/05/01/societa/viaggi/home-cover/l-isola-di-tabarka-e-le-tracce-dei-genovesi-I4Wnl6mzUmuPSygQXZ3h7J/pagina.html accessed 4/2/2017
  12. ↑ http://www.sardegnaturismo.it/en/point-of-interest/calasetta accessed 4/2/2017
  13. ↑ Varela, Santiago (1983). "Nueva Tabarca / Nova Tabarca: 1. Generalidades / 1. Generalitats". Alicante / Alacant, Tabarca: Rutas de aproximación al patrimonio cultural valenciano / Rutes d'aproximació al patrimoni cultural valencià (in Spanish and Catalan). Juan Calduch; Joaquín Lara (graphic dessing). Servicio de patrimonio arquitectónico: Conselleria de Cultura, Educación y Ciencia: Generalidad Valenciana.
  14. ↑ Thabraca at Catholic Encyclopedia.org
  15. ↑ Thabraca at New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia.
  16. ↑ A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, Anterior to the Division of the East and West, Volume 17 (J.H. Parker, 1844) p294.
  17. ↑ Titular Episcopal See of Thabraca at GCatholic.org.
  18. 1 2 Thabraca at catholic-hierarchy.org.
  19. ↑ "Climate: Tabarka - Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  20. 1 2 "Tabarka Climate and Weather Averages, Tunisia". Weather2Travel. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  21. ↑ "Tabarka, Tuisia". Voodoo Skies. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  •  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Thabraca". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  • Tabarka.Com Tabarka Guide
  • Tabarka.Org
  • WorldStatesmen-Tunisia
  • Reading Room Manchester. "CWGC – Cemetery Details". cwgc.org. Retrieved 28 March 2016.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Thabraca". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.

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