El Alia is a town and commune in the

Bizerte Governorate Bizerte Governorate ( ar, ولاية بنزرت ' ) is the northernmost of the 24 governorates of Tunisia. It is in northern Tunisia, approximately rectangular and having a long north coast. It covers an area of 3,750 km² including two lar ...

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

. It was the ancient Uzalis 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 ...

, which became a Christian

bishopric In 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 provinces were administratively associate ...

that is included in the

Catholic Church 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 ...

's list of

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

s. It is not to be confused with

El Alia Cemetery El Alia Cemetery ( ar, مقبرة العالية ) is a cemetery in a suburb of Algiers in the commune of Oued Smar in Algeria. The name "El Alia" means in Arabic ''which is high'', but came from the surname of the donor of the land in 1928, ...

, which is in

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

History

This city has existed since Roman times. In antiquity, its name was UzalisAlfred Louis Delattre, Un pèlerinage aux ruines de Carthage et au musée Lavigerie, éd. (Imprimerie de J. Poncet, Lyon, 1906) (deuxième édition), p. 24. while its current name comes from its founder in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

: Ali El Balight. There are still some

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 ...

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

scattered throughout the city. The population is largely composed of descendants of

Andalusians The Andalusians ( es, andaluces) are a European ethnic group, native to Andalusia, an autonomous community in southern Spain. Andalusia's statute of autonomy defines Andalusians as the Spanish citizens who reside in any of the municipalitie ...

who fled

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

after the Christian reconquest. Andalusian architecture has left its mark on the ancient city situated at the top of the hill (Djebel H'kima). The new city developed in the plains surrounding the ancient city. Monuments such as the Great Mosque and some mausoleums survived the modernization of the city, the walls and gates surrounding the old city having been destroyed at the beginning of the 20th century.

References

Populated places in Bizerte Governorate Communes of Tunisia Catholic titular sees in Africa Tunisia geography articles needing translation from French Wikipedia {{Tunisia-geo-stub

History

See also

References