Carthage (; ar, قرطاج, Qarṭāj) is a commune in
Tunis Governorate
Tunis Governorate ( ' ) is the smallest and most populated of the twenty-four governorates (provinces) of Tunisia. It covers an urban and suburban area on the Gulf of Tunis on the north-east coast covering and has a population of 1,056,247 (2014 ...
,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
.
It is named for, and includes in its area, the
archaeological site of Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
.
Established in 1919, Carthage is some 15 km to the east-northeast of
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
, situated between the towns of
Sidi Bou Said
Sidi Bou Said ( ar, سيدي بو سعيد ') is a town in northern Tunisia located about 20 km from the capital, Tunis.
Named for a religious figure who lived there, Abu Said al-Baji, it was previously called Jabal el-Menar. The town it ...
to the north and
Le Kram
Le Kram is a town and commune in the Tunis Governorate of Tunisia. Situated between La Goulette, the port of Tunis, and Carthage, it opens onto the Gulf of Tunis to the east and the Lake of Tunis to the west. As of 2004 it had a population of 5 ...
to the south. It is reached from Tunis by the R23 road via
La Goulette
La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), in Arabic Halq al-Wadi ( '), is a municipality and the port of Tunis, Tunisia.
La Goulette is located at around on a sandbar between Lake Tūnis and the Gulf of Tunis. The port, located 12km east of Tunis, is th ...
, or by the N9 road via
Tunis-Carthage Airport.
The population as of January 2013 was estimated at 21,277,
mostly attracting the more wealthy residents.
The
Carthage Palace
Carthage Palace ( ara, قصر قرطاج), is the presidential palace of Tunisia, and the official residence and seat of the President of Tunisia. It is located along the Mediterranean Sea at the current city of Carthage, near the archaeologic ...
(the Tunisian presidential palace) is located on the coast.
Carthage has six train stations of the
TGM line between Le Kram and Sidi Bou Said:
Carthage Salammbo (named for
Salambo, the fictional daughter of Hamilcar), Carthage Byrsa (named for
Byrsa
Byrsa was a walled citadel above the Phoenician harbour in ancient Carthage, Tunisia, as well as the name of the hill it rested on.
Legend
In Virgil's account of Dido's founding of Carthage, when Dido and her party were encamped at Byrsa, the lo ...
hill), Carthage Dermech (''Dermèche''), Carthage Hannibal (named for
Hannibal
Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
), Carthage Présidence (named for the
Presidential Palace) and Carthage Amilcar (named for
Hamilcar __NOTOC__
Hamilcar ( xpu, 𐤇𐤌𐤋𐤊 , ,. or , , " Melqart is Gracious"; grc-gre, Ἁμίλκας, ''Hamílkas'';) was a common Carthaginian masculine given name. The name was particularly common among the ruling families of ancient Carthage ...
).
History
Roman Carthage
After the destruction of Punic Carthage in 146 BC, a new city of Carthage (Latin '' Carthāgō'') was built on the same land in the mid-1st century BC. By the 3rd century, Carthage had developed into one of the largest cities of the Roman Empir ...
was destroyed following the
Muslim invasion
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
of 698, and it remained undeveloped for more than a thousand years (being replaced in the function of regional capital by the
Medina of Tunis
The Medina of Tunis is the medina quarter of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.
The Medina contains some 700 monuments, including palaces, mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and fountains dating from t ...
under Arab and later
Ottoman rule), until the establishment of the
French protectorate of Tunisia
The French protectorate of Tunisia (french: Protectorat français de Tunisie; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في تونس '), commonly referred to as simply French Tunisia, was established in 1881, during the French colonial Empire era, ...
in 1881.
The cathedral of
St. Louis of Carthage was built on
Byrsa
Byrsa was a walled citadel above the Phoenician harbour in ancient Carthage, Tunisia, as well as the name of the hill it rested on.
Legend
In Virgil's account of Dido's founding of Carthage, when Dido and her party were encamped at Byrsa, the lo ...
hill in 1884.
In 1885,
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
acknowledged the revived
Archdiocese of Carthage
The Archdiocese of Carthage, also known as the Church of Carthage, was a Latin Catholic diocese established in Carthage, Roman Empire, in the 2nd century. Agrippin was the first named bishop, around 230 AD. The temporal importance of the city of ...
as the
primatial
Primate () is a title or rank bestowed on some important archbishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority (title of authority) or (usually) ceremonial precedence (t ...
see of
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and
Charles Lavigerie
Charles Martial Allemand Lavigerie (31 October 1825 – 26 November 1892) was a French cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tunis, archbishop of Carthage and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Algiers, Algiers and primate of A ...
as primate.
![Archaeological Site of Carthage-130237](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Archaeological_Site_of_Carthage-130237.jpg)
European-style villas were built along the beach beginning in 1906; one such villa was chosen by
Habib Bourguiba
Habib Bourguiba (; ar, الحبيب بورقيبة, al-Ḥabīb Būrqībah; 3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian lawyer, nationalist leader and statesman who led the country from 1956 to 1957 as the prime minister of the Kingdom of T ...
as the presidential palace in 1960.
The municipality was created by a decree of 15 June 1919.
Construction on the
Tunis-Carthage Airport, which was fully funded by France, began in 1944, and in 1948 the airport become the main hub for
Tunisair
Société Tunisienne de l'Air, or Tunisair ( ar, الخطوط التونسية) is the national airline of Tunisia. Formed in 1948, it operates scheduled international services to four continents. Its main base is Tunis–Carthage International ...
.
In the 1950s the Lycée Français de Carthage was established to serve French families in Carthage. In 1961 it was given to the Tunisian government as part of the
Independence of Tunisia
Tunisian independence was a process that occurred from 1952 to 1956 between France and a separatist movement, led by Habib Bourguiba. He became the first Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia after negotiations with France successfully had b ...
, so the nearby Collège Maurice Cailloux in
La Marsa
La Marsa ( aeb, المرسى ') is a coastal town in far north eastern Tunisia near the capital Tunis. The population is estimated as 92,987, as of 2014. The old summer capital of pre-colonial Tunisia, it is today a popular vacation spot for many ...
, previously an annex of the Lycée Français de Carthage, was renamed to the Lycée Français de La Marsa and began serving the ''lycée'' level. It is currently the
Lycée Gustave Flaubert.
[Qui sommes nous ?]
Archive
. Lycée Gustave Flaubert (La Marsa)
Lycée Gustave Flaubert is a French international school in La Marsa, Tunisia. It serves levels ''sixième'' of ''collège'' (junior high school/middle school) until ''terminale'', the final year of ''lycée'' (senior high school/sixth form college ...
. Retrieved on February 24, 2016.
After Tunisian independence in 1956, the Tunis conurbation gradually extended around the airport, and Carthage is now a suburb of Tunis.
In February 1985, Ugo Vetere, the mayor of Rome, and Chedly Klibi, the mayor of Carthage, signed a symbolic treaty "officially" ending the conflict between their cities, which had been supposedly
extended by the lack of a peace treaty for more than 2,100 years.
![Facade sud Abidine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Facade_sud_Abidine.JPG)
The office of mayor was held by Chedli Klibi from 1963 to 1990, by
Fouad Mebazaa from 1995 to 1998 and by Sami Tarzi from 2003 to 2011, and by
Azedine Beschaouch from 2011.
The monumental ''Malik ibn Anas'' mosque
(also ''El Abidine '' mosque; ), built on an area of three hectares on ''Odéon'' hill, was inaugurated in 2003.
[« La mosquée El Abidine, Carthage », Architecture méditerranéenne, hors-série « La Tunisie moderne : deux décennies de transformations », novembre 2007, p. 51-57]
See also
*
Ancient Carthage
Carthage () was a settlement in modern Tunisia that later became a city-state and then an empire. Founded by the Phoenicians in the ninth century BC, Carthage reached its height in the fourth century BC as one of the largest metropolises in t ...
*
Carthage (archaeological site)
*
History of Carthage
The city of Carthage was founded in the 9th century BC on the coast of Northwest Africa, in what is now Tunisia, as one of a number of Phoenician settlements in the western Mediterranean created to facilitate trade from the city of Tyre on the ...
References
External links
{{Communes of Tunisia
Communes of Tunisia
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
Populated places in Tunis Governorate
Populated places established in 1919
1919 establishments in Tunisia
Articles with hCards and Geo