El Kef ( ar, الكاف '), also known as ''Le Kef'', is a city in northwestern

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

. It serves as the capital of the

Kef Governorate Kef Governorate ( ' ) is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It comprises chiefly part of the dorsal Atlas Mountains and their foothills in north-western Tunisia, bordering Algeria. It covers an area of 4,965 km2 and has a pop ...

. El Kef is situated to the west of

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

and some east of the border between Algeria and Tunisia. It has a population of (2004 census). The old town is built on the cliff face of the table-top

Jebel Dyr Jabal, Jabel, Jebel or Jibal may refer to: People * Jabal (name), a male Arabic given name * Jabal (Bible), mentioned in the Hebrew Bible Places In Arabic, ''jabal'' or ''jebel'' (spelling variants of the same word) means 'mountain'. * Dzhebel, ...

mountain. El Kef was the provisional capital of Tunisia during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It was the command centre of the Front de Libération Nationale during the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

against the French in the 1950s. The

Sidi Bou Makhlouf ''Sidi'' or ''Sayidi'', also Sayyidi and Sayeedi, ( ar, سيدي, Sayyīdī, Sīdī (dialectal) " milord") is an Arabic masculine title of respect. ''Sidi'' is used often to mean "saint" or "my master" in Maghrebi Arabic and Egyptian Arabic. ...

Mausoleum entombs the patron saint of the city.

Geography

The highest-elevated city of Tunisia, at , its metropolitan

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while ''surface area'' refers to the area of an open su ...

reaches of which lie within the interior of the old walled

Medina quarter A medina (from ar, مدينة, translit=madīnah, lit=city) is a historical district in a number of North African cities, often corresponding to an old walled city. The term comes from the Arabic word simply meaning "city" or "town". Histori ...

. The municipality of El Kef is shared between two national delegates, East Kef and West Kef, which correspond to the two municipal boroughs.

History

Etymology

First known by the name of Sicca during the Carthaginian era, then later Sicca Veneria during the rise of Roman domination, the city has carried numerous names throughout its history: Colonia Julia Cirta, Cirta Nova, Sikka Beneria, Shaqbanariya and finally El Kef since the 16th century.

Ancient times

El Kef has since ancient times been the principal city of the High-Tell Mountains and of the Tunisian northwest of which it constituted, until recently, the political center, the most important religious center, and the dominant stronghold. In the early 5th century

Apiarius of Sicca Apiarius of Sicca was an African Christian priest convicted by the Bishops of Africa of numerous unspecified crimes in the early 5th century AD, and excommunicated by Bishop Urbanus of Sicca Veneria. Appeal to the bishop of Rome In 418, Apiari ...

was a priest here, and instigated a dispute between the churches of Carthage and Rome concerning the jurisdiction of the Bishops of Africa when he appealed to the church of Rome against his excommunication by the church of Carthage. Around 439, invading

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area be ...

conquered the African Romans near the coast. Eventually, El Kef became part of a Berber Kingdom.

Umayyad conquest

In 688 AD, the city was raided during the

Umayyad conquest of North Africa The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb ( ar, الْفَتْحُ الإسلَامِيُّ لِلْمَغرِب) continued the century of rapid Muslim conquests following the death of Muhammad in 632 and into the Byzantine-controlled territories of ...

. In the 17th century, a

Kasbah of Le Kef Kasbah of Le Kef ( ar, قصبة الكاف) is a kasbah fortification in the city of El Kef, Tunisia. The kasbah was constructed in 1600 during the Ottoman rule of the local tribes and borders, as one of the many forts established for the monito ...

was built to house a permanent garrison (''ujaq''); the construction was completed by the addition of fortified ramparts in 1740. This did not however prevent the taking and pillaging of the city by the

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , religi ...

ns in 1756, nor the occupation by the French military from 1881, following the partial collapse of the Ottoman Empire. On July 8, 1884, the authorities of the new French Protectorate declared El Kef a municipality, one of the first in the country.

Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb Sir Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb (2 January 1895 – 22 October 1971), known as H. A. R. Gibb, was a Scottish historian and Orientalist. Early life and education Gibb was born on Wednesday, 2 January 1895, in Alexandria, Egypt, ...

, Johannes Hendrik Kramers,

Bernard Lewis Bernard Lewis, (31 May 1916 – 19 May 2018) was a British American historian specialized in Oriental studies. He was also known as a public intellectual and political commentator. Lewis was the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Nea ...

Charles Pellat Charles Pellat (28 September 1914, in Souk Ahras – 28 October 1992, in Bourg-la-Reine) was an Algerian-born French academic, historian, translator, and scholar of Oriental studies, specialized in Arab studies and Islamic studies. He was an ed ...

Joseph Schacht Joseph Franz Schacht (, 15 March 1902 – 1 August 1969) was a British-German professor of Arabic and Islam at Columbia University in New York. He was the leading Western scholar on Islamic law, whose ''Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence'' (195 ...

, ''

The Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published ...

'', vol. IV, éd. Brill, Leyde, 1954, p. 403

Contemporary

In 1973, there was a summit meeting here between the Tunisian president

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 ...

and the Algerian president

Houari Boumédiène Houari Boumédiène ( ar, ; ALA-LC: ''Hawwārī Būmadyan''; born Mohammed Ben Brahim Boukherouba; 23 August 1932 – 27 December 1978) was an Algerian politician and army colonel who served as Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of Al ...

. The latter proposed a constitution for a Tunisian-Algerian union which Bourguiba declined in favor of the development of economic cooperation between the two countries.

Climate

The climate is usually unstable, ranging from summer heat waves to winter snow blizzards.

Main sights

El Kef contains a certain number of Islamic religious edifices, in its role as the center of a Sufic movement. The Sidi Bou Makhlouf Mausoleum holds the tomb of the founder of the Aissawa brotherhood in Tunisia,

. The El Qadriya mosque is also important to Sufism. A legacy of the old local Jewish community, the synagogue of the Ghriba is the object of veneration by Jews of the region, who come in pilgrimage each year during the week marked by the festival of

Sukkot or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tis ...

. In the city is the mausoleum of Ali Tukie, the father of

Al-Husayn I ibn Ali at-Turki Al-Husayn I ibn Ali, also known as Hussein I ( ar, حسين الأول; born in 1675 – 13 September 1740). He was the founder of the Husainid Dynasty, which ruled Tunisia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1957. Biography Husayn was born ...

, founder of the

Husainid dynasty The Husainid dynasty or Husaynid dynasty ( ar, الحسينيون) was a ruling dynasty of the Beylik of Tunis, which was of Greek origin from the island of Crete. It came to power under al-Husayn I ibn Ali in 1705, succeeding the Muradid dynas ...

which ruled Tunisia from 1705 to 1957. The vestiges, well preserved, of a three-naved Roman

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

dating from the beginning of the 5th century named Dar El Kous, dedicated to

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupa ...

, have been discovered. The enormous Jugurtha Tableland mesa is visible from El Kef.

Culture

Museums

The Museum of the Popular Arts and Traditions of El Kef, housed within a museum built in the 18th century, presents collections which retrace the social habits and customs which prevailed before the independence of the country.

Music

The

Bou Makhlouf festival Bou () is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France. The village is situated in the greater Orléans Orléans (;

is held in July each year. The Saliha Festival is held once every other year. The latter takes its name from the singer Saliha who hails from the region.

Performing arts

It is the seat of the National Center for the Dramatic and Scenic Arts of El Kef. The city also organizes the festival of "24 hours of non-stop theatre".

Cuisine

The cuisine of El Kef has two recipes specific to the region. First, a typical regional bread, ''mjamaa'' or ''khobz el aid'', is prepared at festival times, covered with an egg and decorated with pastry. Second, ''borzgane'' is a type of

couscous Couscous ( '; ber, ⵙⴽⵙⵓ, translit=Seksu) – sometimes called kusksi or kseksu – is a Maghrebi dish of small steamed granules of rolled durum wheat semolina that is often served with a stew spooned on top. Pearl millet, sorghum, ...

lightly sweetened by alternating layers of dry fruits, dates, and lamb meat. The Festival of Mayou, also known as the Festival of Borzgane, brings the traditional Keffish

up to contemporary taste.

Government

The city council is composed of 22 members, including a president, vice president, borough chief, six assistants and thirteen counselors.

Education

Schools, institutes, and faculties include the El Kef Higher Institute of Applied Studies in the Humanities, El Kef Higher Institute of Music and Theatre, El Kef Higher Institute of Information Technology, El Kef Higher Institute of Physical Education, El Kef Graduate School of Agriculture, and El Kef Higher Institute of Nursing Science.

Media

Radio Le Kef, the regional radio service founded November 7, 1991, covers the northwest of the country.

Transportation

The transportation company of El Kef is the only company offering a

public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typic ...

service by

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

. The city is linked with surrounding cities by a network of

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

s called '' louage'', and with the capital, Tunis, by a regional

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

passing through

Dahmani Dahmani, formerly Abbah Quşūr (alternative spellings Abbah Qusur or Ebba Ksour), is a town and commune in the Kef Governorate, Tunisia. As of 2004 it had a population of 14,061. It is located at 625 meters above sea level, 225 kilometers southw ...

Sports

In sports, the Olympique du Kef, city soccer club founded in 1922 won the 2009-2010 League II Championship. The El Kef Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education runs the annual Tunisian Women's Soccer Championship.

Sister-city

El Kef has had a sister-city relationship since 1993 with

Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; frp, Bôrg) is the prefecture of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ancient province of Bresse ( frp, Brêsse, links=no). In 2018, th ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, officially sealed in 1999 and 2000 with the signing of an agreement of exchange and friendship.

Media references

In 1855,

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican priest and later as a Catholic priest and ...

published a novel, '' Callista'', which was set in Sicca Veneria in the 3rd century AD (Roman era).

People

Caelius Aurelianus Caelius Aurelianus of Sicca in Numidia was a Greco-Roman physician and writer on medical topics. He is best known for his translation from Greek to Latin of a work by Soranus of Ephesus, ''On Acute and Chronic Diseases''. He probably flourished ...

, c. 5th century physician and medical writer, he translated works by Soranus from Greek into Latin. * St. Fulgentius of Ruspe was ordered to be scourged here by an

Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by G ...

priest in 499Butlers "Lives of the Saints" *

Arnobius Arnobius (died c. 330) was an early Christian apologist of Berber origin during the reign of Diocletian (284–305). According to Jerome's ''Chronicle,'' Arnobius, before his conversion, was a distinguished Numidian rhetorician at Sicca Ven ...

of Sicca Veneria (Arnobius the Elder)

Gallery

El Kef.jpg Table de Jugurtha 01.JPG El Kasba, le kef.jpg El Kef Kasbah View.jpg Les ruines du kef 1.jpg KEf, the city.jpg Roads of kef by night 10.jpg Roads of kef by night 04.jpg

Notes and references

Sources

*Tahar Ayachi, ''El Kef'', éd. Office national du tourisme tunisien, Tunis, 2007 *Abdelhamid Larguèche ous la dir. de ''Revoir El Kef'', éd. MC-Editions, Carthage, 2005 *Camille Mifort, ''Vivre au Kef. Quand la Tunisie était française'', éd. MC-Editions, Carthage, 2008 *Cornelia Smet, ''Si ma grand-mère était Keffoise'', éd. MC-Editions, Carthage, 2005

External links

Site sur la ville du Kef
* ttp://lexicorient.com/tunisia/kef.htm Lexicorient {{Authority control Cities in Tunisia Communes of Tunisia History of Tunisia by location Roman sites in Tunisia Phoenician cities Populated places established in the 3rd century BC Maghreb