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19-464: Mahdia , the administrative centre, is a coastal resort with prominent weaving and fish processing industries. The other coastal urban centre is the small town of Chebba , on the headland of a bay. Ksour Essef is midway between these towns and approximately 2.5 km inland. El Djem is 13 km inland and a mid-sized town on a major crossroads of roads in the district and having Tunisia's main north-south railway. The nearest international airport

38-490: Is connected by road and rail and is 15 km north of Mahdia (the town), Monastir Habib Bourguiba International Airport . The two main coastal cities are of historic note to Greek, Roman, and early Muslim societies. They include the Mahdia shipwreck – a sunken ship found off Mahdia's shore, containing Greek art treasures – dated to about 80 BC, the early part of Roman rule in this region. The old part of Mahdia corresponds to

57-532: Is dated to about 80 BC, the early part of Roman rule in this region. Muslim Mahdia was founded by the Fatimids under the Caliph Abdallah al-Mahdi and made the capital of Ifriqiya . As the then-newly-created Fatimid Caliphate was a Shi'a regime supported by a Berber Kutama military, the caliph may have been motivated to move his capital here so as to put some distance between his power base and

76-421: Is more commonly taken to have been at Henchir Sbia (or just Sbia), north of Mahdia, or at the ruins known as Ksour Siad. The most illustrious bishop of this see was Fulgentius of Ruspe . The Catholic Church's list of titular sees, which identifies the see of Africa as Mahdia, identifies Ruspe/Ruspae as Henchir Sbia. The Mahdia shipwreck – a sunken ship found off Mahdia's shore, containing Greek art treasures –

95-644: Is supposed that the episcopal see of Africa was established when the city was held by the Kingdom of Sicily , as a part of the Kingdom of Africa (1147–1160) and when Pope Eugene III consecrated a bishop for it in 1148. An inventory of movable property of the church of Africa ( inventarium thesauri Africani ) exists in an archive of the Cappella Palatina of Palermo in Sicily. Salim Dev identified Mahdia instead with ancient Ruspae or Ruspe , which

114-558: The Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn in Germany. There were also several dozen heavy marble columns and parts of catapults. It has been generally thought that the marble columns were removed and shipped by order of Lucius Cornelius Sulla after his sacking of Athens in 86 BC. None of the epic-scaled Homeric figures that gained popularity in the 1st century BC were to be found, nor any copies of Classical works of

133-527: The Roman city called Aphrodisium and, later, called Africa (a name perhaps derived from the older name), or Cape Africa . The Catholic Church 's list of titular sees includes a no longer residential bishopric called Africa and, since there is no record of an episcopal see in Roman times called by either of these names (nor by that of Alipota, another Roman town that Charles Tissot suggested tentatively might be represented by present-day Mehdia), it

152-419: The Roman city called Aphrodisium and, later, called Africa (a name perhaps derived from the older name), or Cape Africa . The climate is semiarid throughout particularly in the summer and due to the high albedo effects compared to provinces of the far north, nighttime temperatures tend to fall more, to a similar temperature to average upland parts of the north. Much of the developed area benefits from

171-499: The 5th century, as Nikolaus Himmelmann pointed out, contrasting the Mahdia cargo with the similar cargo of the somewhat later Antikythera ship . Recovered was a marble bust probably of Ariadne , two large-scale bronzes, a herm figure of a turbaned Dionysus , inscribed with the name of its maker, Boëthos of Chalcedon , and a lithe, winged olive-wreathed boy, identified by scholars as Agon or Eros Enagonios , Eros as lord of contests,

190-561: The Fatimid city has not survived to the present day. The mosque, however, is one of the most well-preserved Fatimid monuments in the Maghreb , although it has been extensively damaged over time and was in large part reconstructed by archeologists in the 1960s. Fragments of mosaic pavements from the palaces have also been discovered from modern excavations. In 1087, the town was attacked by raiding ships from Genoa and Pisa who burned

209-835: The Muslim fleet in the harbor. The attack played a critical role in Christians' seizure of control of the Western Mediterranean, which allowed the First Crusade to be supplied by sea. The Zirid dynasty , which succeeded the Fatimids in the Maghreb, moved their capital here in 1057. Their rule was brought to an end by the Norman conquest of the city in 1148. In 1160 the city came under Almohad rule . The role of

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228-568: The Protectorate of Tunisia. Further survey work on the site was done by a team led by Mensun Bound, but unfortunately no further excavations have been possible. A storm presumably drove the ship onto the north African coast en route from Piraeus , the port of Athens, to Italy, as it was carrying Greek works of art intended for Roman purchasers, marble and bronze sculptures, high-quality furniture fittings, decorative items, and architectural elements. These were later restored by researchers from

247-818: The Sousse area's advanced water distribution network from dammed rivers and lakes including those hundreds of miles to the west which provides water for domestic use and pools. The governorate is divided into eleven delegations ( mutamadiyat ), listed below with their populations at the 2004 and 2014 Censuses: Eighteen municipalities are in Mahdia Governorate: Bou Merdes, Bradaa, Chebba, Chorbane, Eljem, Essouassi, Hebira, Hkaima, Kerker, Ksour Essef, Mahdia, Melloulèche, Ouled Chamekh, Rejiche, Sidi Alouane, Sidi Zid, Tlelsa and Zelba. Electorally and for some more national purposes, Mahdia has eleven delegations , most boundaries of which are similar to

266-650: The capital was taken over by Tunis in the 12th century during the Almohad era, which it remained during the Hafsid Dynasty . Later the city was subject to many raids. In 1390 it was the target of the Barbary Crusade , when a French army laid siege to the city but failed to take it. The city was captured by the Spaniards in 1550. A Spanish garrison remained there until 1553. Charles V then offered

285-572: The charge of the town to the Order of Saint John who ruled Malta but they refused it deeming it too expensive. The emperor ordered the Viceroy of Sicily, Juan de Vega , to dismantle Mahdia despite it being a strategically important stronghold. The demolition tasks were carried out by Hernando de Acuña. Shortly after Mahdia was reoccupied by the Ottomans, but only to live by fishing and oil-works, and

304-405: The governorates. Mahdia Mahdia ( Arabic : المهدية al-Mahdīyah ) is a Tunisian coastal city with 76,513 inhabitants, south of Monastir and southeast of Sousse . Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax . It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as weaving. It is the capital of Mahdia Governorate . The old part of Mahdia corresponds to

323-473: The predominantly Sunni city of Kairouan (the traditional capital of Ifriqiya up to that point). Construction began in 916 and the new city was officially inaugurated on 20 February 921, although some construction continued afterward. In addition to its heavy fortified walls, the city included the Fatimid palaces, an artificial harbor, and a congregational mosque (the Great Mosque of Mahdia ). Most of

342-579: The town lost its logistic and commercial importance. It remained under Turkish rule until the 19th century . During the Nazi Occupation of Tunisia in World War II , Mahdia was the site where Khaled Abdelwahhab hid approximately two dozen persecuted Jews . Gare Mahdia forms the southern terminus of the metre-gauge Sahel Metro railway line, which runs from Sousse and Monastir . Mahdia shipwreck The shipwreck of Mahdia

361-562: Was found by Greek sponge fishermen off the coast of Tunisia in June 1907. The shipwreck near the modern town of Mahdia is dated to between 80 and 60 BC. In a series of underwater campaigns, numerous items were recovered and placed on display at the Musée National du Bardo , Tunis. The greater part of the sculptures were salvaged between 1907 and 1913 by French archaeologist Alfred Merlin , at that time Director of Antiquities in

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