Ariana ( ') is a coastal city in north-eastern

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, part of the agglomeration of

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

, also called

Grand Tunis Grand Tunis or Greater Tunis (Arabic language, Arabic: ''تونس الكبرى'', French language, French: ''Grand Tunis'') is the largest metropolitan area in Tunisia, centered on the country's capital Tunis. It consists of four governorates: ...

. It is located at the north of Tunis city center, around . It is ~2.6 kilometeres away from Tunis. It is the capital of

Ariana Governorate Ariana Governorate ( ' ; ) is one of the 24 governorates of Tunisia. It is in northern Tunisia, approximately triangular, having as one of its sides part of the Gulf of Tunis, it covers an area of 482 km2 and has a population of 668,552 (2024 ...

and the country's eighth largest city.

History

The city's name seems to date back to the period of the

Vandal Kingdom The Vandal Kingdom () or Kingdom of the Vandals and Alans () was a confederation of Vandals and Alans, which was a barbarian kingdoms, barbarian kingdom established under Gaiseric, a Vandals, Vandalic warlord. It ruled parts of North Africa and th ...

in pre-Islamic

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

: the Vandals, in fact, were of Arian faith. It could also be a reference to

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

settlers from the Islamic invasion of the Maghreb as Persians refer to themselves as "

Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...

". The city's origins date back to the

Zirid dynasty The Zirid dynasty (), Banu Ziri (), was a Sanhaja Berber dynasty from what is now Algeria which ruled the central Maghreb from 972 to 1014 and Ifriqiya (eastern Maghreb) from 972 to 1148. Descendants of Ziri ibn Manad, a military leader of t ...

. Under the

Hafsid The Hafsid dynasty ( ) was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Berber descentC. Magbaily Fyle, ''Introduction to the History of African Civilization: Precolonial Africa'', (University Press of America, 1999), 84. that ruled Ifriqiya (modern day Tunisia, w ...

sultan

Muhammad I al-Mustansir Muhammad I al-Mustansir (; ) was the second Sultan of Ifriqiya of the Hafsid dynasty and the first to claim the title of Khalif. Al-Mustansir concluded a peace agreement to end the Eighth Crusade launched by Louis IX of France in 1270. Muhamm ...

, Ariana became the residence of the

Sephardi Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

and Muslim

Andalusians The Andalusians () are the people of Andalusia, an autonomous community in southern Spain. Andalusia's statute of autonomy defines Andalusians as the Spanish citizens who reside in any of the municipalities of Andalusia, as well as those Spani ...

, who sought refuge in

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

in the thirteenth century.

Geography

The city, whose area covers

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s, and is the pole of an agglomeration covering seven districts for a population basin of inhabitants. It is located in the middle of a vast plain bordered by the beaches of Raoued and

Gammarth __NOTOC__ Gammarth ( ) is a town on the Mediterranean Sea in the Tunis Governorate of Tunisia, located some 15 to 20 kilometres north of Tunis, adjacent to La Marsa. It is an upmarket seaside resort, known for its expensive hotels and shops. In the ...

as well as the city of Carthage and the hill of Sidi Bou Saïd.

Economy

Ariana owes its fame to its

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

development and to its production of

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s, mainly roses. The Rose Garden, located in Bir Belhassen Park, covers some 3000m² and is home to rosebushes and cuttings, 90% of which belong to the variety known as the “Ariana rose". This variety was introduced in

1637 Events January–March * January 5 – Pierre Corneille's tragicomedy '' Le Cid'' is first performed, in Paris, France. * January 16 – The siege of Nagpur ends in the modern-day Maharashtra state of India, as Kok Shah, the ...

by the Andalusians. The garden is extended by the Galerie de la Rose which develops the historical, natural and cultural aspects of the flower. A rose festival takes place every year in the spring.

Climate

In Ariana, the climate is warm and temperate. In winter there is much more rainfall than in summer. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is Csa. The average annual temperature in Ariana is . About of precipitation falls annually.

Gallery

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Ariana Governorate Populated coastal places in Tunisia Communes of Tunisia Cities in Tunisia