Tipasa - (World Heritage Site in Algeria)

Tipasa - Algeria

Brief Report

On the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Tipaza was an old Punic trading post conquered by Rome and converted to a strategic base for the conquest of the kingdoms of Mauritania.  It consists of a unique group Phoenician, Roman, palaeochristian and Byzantine ruins next to indigenous monuments such as the Kbor Roumia seh, the large royal mausoleum of Mauritania.

Wonderful Universal Importance

Tipaza is situated 70 km west of Algiers. It is a serial estate with three locations: two archaeological parks in the vicinity of the current urban complex and the Royal Mauritanian Mausoleum, on the western Sahel plateau of Algiers, 11 km south-east of Tipaza.

The archaeological site of Tipaza brings together one of the most extraordinary archaeological complexes of the Maghreb, And perhaps a what is the most important for the study of the contacts between the indigenous cultures and the various waves of colonization from the 6th century BC to the 6th century A.D. This city on the coast, for the first time a Carthaginian trading center,  The necropolis is one of the oldest and one of the most comprehensive of the Punic world (6th to 2nd century BC. C. ).  During this period, Tipaza played the role of a seaport, a place for commercial exchanges with the indigenous population. Many necropolis witnesses to the very varied forms of burial and and practices which witnesses of the multicultural exchange of influences from protohistoric times. The monumental, circular and building, known as the Royal Mauritanian Mausoleum, you associate a local architectural tradition of the type basina, a style of stepped truncated roofing,  The monumental, circular and building, known as the Royal Mauritanian Mausoleum, you associate a local architectural tradition of the type of basina, a style of stepped truncated roofing, the result of the different contributions, particularly Hellenistic and Pharaonic.The Roman period is characterized by a prestigious ensemble of buildings, consisting of very different architectural typologies. From the 3rd to 4th century A.D. a striking increase of Christianity it is clear from the multitude of religious buildings. Some of the rooms are furnished with high-quality mosaic stone and illustrate scenes from the daily life, or geometric patterns. The Vandal invasion of the 430's is not the final end of the prosperity of Tipaza, but the city, should not be forgotten by the Byzantines in 531, was in decline gradually from the 6th century.

Wide Report

Tipaza consists of a unique group Phoenician, Roman, paleo-Christian and Byzantine ruins next to indigenous monuments such as the Kbor Roumia seh, the large royal mausoleum of Mauritania. The site of Tipaza, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea 70 km west of Algiers, Takes one of the most extraordinary archaeological complexes of the Maghreb countries; it is perhaps the most important for the study of the contacts between the indigenous cultures and different waves of colonization from the 6th century BC to the 6th century AD. This seaside resort was first a Carthaginian trading center, whose cemetery is one of the most comprehensive of the Phoenician world (6TH/ 2th-century BC).  Then was conquered by the Romans who used it as a base from which to conquer the Mauritanian kingdoms.

The oldest Roman settlement is located in the center of the city on a steep slope protected by rocks and by a rudimentary defensive wall. In AD 147, at the time of the war of Antonine Wall Is Within Pius against the Mauritanians, this modest settlement was enclosed by a wall, 2,300 m in length. This stronghold, which is flanked by square and round towers, including three inputs, two of which are protected by semicircular reinforced defensive works similar to that found in Gaul and in Germany. Within this enclosure there are important buildings situated in the original core of the city and in the new districts: the forum, the curia, the capitolium, two temples, an amphitheatre, a nymphaeum, a theater and baths.

The impressive ruins of the municipal buildings are located in the heart of a dense network of private dwellings (many decorated with paintings and mosaics), commercial warehouses and industrial establishments of the 2nd and 3rd century. Christianity was in the city in the second half of the 3rd century(Tipaza later became a bishopric) and there are many Christian religious buildings. The huge 4th-century seven-aisled basilica, the central gangway of which was later divided, and a baptistry based on a circular plan, were intra muros in the west to the hill of Ras Knissia.

The enceinte was partly retained, a large christian cemetery stretches around a chapel and Bishop Alexander constructed as a resting place for his predecessor. In the east, the Basilica of St Peter and St Paul, and on the hill St Salsa in the graf and the church dedicated to the martyr, was the purpose of a pilgrimage which developed around another cemetery. The Vandal invasion of the 430s is not the final end of Tipaza's prosperity, but also all the city was not forget by the Byzantines in 534, was in a decline of the 6th century where he never recovered.