Kelibia (Kélibia) ( '), often referred to as Klibia or Gallipia by European writers, is a coastal town on the Cap Bon peninsula, Nabeul Governorate in the far north-eastern part of

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 ...

. Its sand beaches are considered some of the finest in the Mediterranean.

History

Known in

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingd ...

as Clypia or Clypea,George Sale, ''An Universal History'' (1760), vol. 19, p. 200
/ref>C.A. Schwetschke, ''Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung '' (1822), Volumes 1–2, No. 134, col. 197
/ref>Pauli Iovii Novocomensis Episcopi Nucerini Historiarum sui temporis (1552), p. 363
/ref> () Strabo, Geography, §6.2.11
/ref> the town was founded by the

Carthaginians The Punic people, usually known as the Carthaginians (and sometimes as Western Phoenicians), were a Semitic people, Semitic people who Phoenician settlement of North Africa, migrated from Phoenicia to the Western Mediterranean during the Iron ...

as the fortified town of Aspis () in the 5th century BC. The

Siege of Aspis The siege of Aspis or Clupea was fought in 256 BC between Carthage (state), Carthage and the Roman Republic. It was the first fighting on African land during the First Punic War. Background After defeating the Carthaginian navy sent to stop them ...

in 255BC was the first battle of the

First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...

fought on African soil. Clypea was also the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of an ancient 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 ...

. At the

Council of Carthage (411) 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 ...

, which brought together Catholic and

Donatist Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to ...

bishops, Clypea was represented by Bishop Leodicius and the Donatist Geminius. Aurilius was one of the bishops whom the

Arian Arianism (, ) is a Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is considered he ...

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vandal ...

king

Huneric Huneric, Hunneric or Honeric (died December 23, 484) was King of the (North African) Vandal Kingdom (477–484) and the oldest son of Gaiseric. He abandoned the imperial politics of his father and concentrated mainly on internal affairs. He was ma ...

summoned to Carthage in 484 and then exiled. Two other bishops of Clypia took part in the Council of Carthage (525) (Bishop Crescentius) and Council of Carthage (645) (Bishop Stephanus). No longer a residential bishopric, Clypea is now listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

as a

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 archbi ...

.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 872

Sports

The town's Kelibia Olympic Club, founded in 1957 and active since 1959, is one of the best Tunisian volleyball clubs. The club has won two Tunisian championship titles (in 1977 and 2003), eight cups (1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1989, 2004 and 2011) and an Arab Cup of clubs' champions (in 1998).

Culture

Since 1964, Kélibia has hosted the Kelibia International Amateur Film Festival, the oldest of its kind in the country.

Kelibia today

The main landmark of Kelibia is the recently restored Kelibia Fort overlooking the harbor. Kelibia is a fishing port and is home to Tunisia's National Fishing School. The town has a population of 52,000 (2014 census). The 'Muscat de Kélibia', a fruity regional white wine is widely recognized as one of the best of the country.

Climate

Twin towns — sister cities

Almuñécar Almuñécar () is a Spanish city and municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the southwestern part of the comarcas of Spain, comarca of the Costa Granadina, in the province of Granada. It is located on the shores of the Mediterranean sea ...

, Spain *

Marsala Marsala (, ; ) is an Italian comune located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth largest in Sicily.The town is famous for the docking of Giuseppe Garibal ...

, Italy *

Pantelleria Pantelleria (; ), known in ancient times as Cossyra or Cossura, is an Italian island and comune in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and east of the Tunisian coast. On clear days Tunisia is visible from the ...

, Italy

References

Notes

External links

Kelibia city web portal
(Archived copy)

{{Authority control Populated coastal places in Tunisia Populated places in Nabeul Governorate Communes of Tunisia Phoenician colonies in Tunisia Catholic titular sees in Africa Ancient Greek geography of North Africa