Téboursouk ( aeb, تبرسق ') is a town and commune in the

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 at the 2014 census.

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 located at 36° 27′ 26″N, 009° 14′ 54″E.

Population

In 2004 it had a total population of 10,987,Recensement de 2004 (Institut national de la statistique)
and of 22,115 inhabitants in 2014.General Census of the Population and the Household 2014 by Governorates
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Geography

The town is part of the

governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

of Béja, and it constitutes a municipality. Located at the foot of the Téboursouk Mountains in the Tunisian ridge, the city is built half-way up a hill at above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. It overlooks

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

groves in the valley of Wadi Khalled. Téboursouk is located on the territory of the

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 ...

tribe of the Bejaoua, near the Drid tribe, at the northern end of the Haut-Tell. Located away are the ruins of 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 ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

city of

Dougga Dougga or Thugga or TBGG was a Berber, Punic and Roman settlement near present-day Téboursouk in northern Tunisia. The current archaeological site covers . UNESCO qualified Dougga as a World Heritage Site in 1997, believing that it represents " ...

History

During the Roman Empire, Teboursouc was known as "''Tubursico-Bure''", and was in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') 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 rule ...

Africa Proconsularis 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 ...

. The ruins of ancient Thubursicum Bure are a large

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

enclosure of pentagonal form, erected under the reign of

Justin II Justin II ( la, Iustinus; grc-gre, Ἰουστῖνος, Ioustînos; died 5 October 578) or Justin the Younger ( la, Iustinus minor) was Eastern Roman Emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the ...

(565-578), and whose northern front encompasses a Roman gate and cemetery. The Roman city was considered a

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privi ...

. The city obtained the statute of municipality in 1904 under the French protectorate and the status of chief town of delegation at 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 ...

. In 2004, the municipality celebrated the centenary of its creation.

Bishopric

During Roman and Byzantine times the city was the seat of a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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, pro ...

, the suffragan of

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 ...

. There are four documented bishops of Teboursouk. ''Servus Dei'' is mentioned by

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

in his ''Contra Cresconio'' around 404 and he had as a competitor the

Donatist Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and t ...

Bishop,

Cyprian Cyprian (; la, Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus; 210 – 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Chri ...

, who, according to the testimony of Augustine, was deposed by Primianus (the Donatist

Bishop 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 ...

) becauseContra Petilian, III, 34.40 "Cyprian, was caught in a

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

. At the conference of Carthage of 411, between Catholic bishops and Donatists the same Servus Dei, and was joined by the Donatist bishop Donato, who had replaced the now disgraced Cyprian. Bishop Reparato attended the

Council of Carthage (525) 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 ...

. Today Tubursico-Bure survives as

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 and the current titular bishop is

Mykhaylo Bubniy Bishop Mykhaylo Bubniy, C.Ss.R. ( uk, Михайло Бубній; born 16 September 1970 in Khlivchany, Sokal Raion, Lviv Oblast, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian Greek Catholic hierarch as an Archiepiscopal Exarch of Ukrainian Catholic Archiepi ...

Exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and ea ...

Archbishop of Odessa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teboursouk Communes of Tunisia Populated places in Béja Governorate Roman towns and cities in Tunisia Ancient Berber cities Catholic titular sees in Africa

Population

Geography

History

Bishopric

See also

References