Description of the attraction
Tipasa is one of the ancient architectural monuments included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Located on the Mediterranean coast, west of Algeria.
The ancient Phoenician outpost was built on three heights in the 5-6th century. The prosperity of the trading fort was brought by the Romans, who captured it in 46, along with other settlements in Mauritania. The city received "Roman law", giving almost full civil rights, and after colonization, the inhabitants of Tipasa were equal in rights with the inhabitants of Rome. The early spread of Christian teachings in the city did not receive support from local residents, but a basilica was built on the seashore in honor of the tortured Christian virgin Salsa.
At the behest of the Vandal King Gunerich in Tipas, there were attempts to plant Arianism with the help of a bishop sent in 484, but part of the population left the city, moving to Spain, the rest of the inhabitants were severely persecuted. The decline of Tipasa was suspended for some time by the Arabs who arrived here in the 6th century, they gave the city a newer name - Tefassed ("ruins").
After excavations, the two-aisled Basilica of St. Salsa with two aisles and remnants of antique mosaics. The remains of two more churches were also found - St. Alexander and the Great Basilicas, surrounded by necropolises with stone tombs, with mosaics as decoration. There are also the ruins of a theater, a bath, a nympheum, which at various times served as a sanctuary for mythical water deities and a baptismal site. At the site of the Great Basilica, stone was mined for several centuries, but the foundation has been preserved in the form of a plan, you can see all seven chapels. Also, under the church, burials of hard rock were discovered, one of which has the shape of a circle.
Since 1857, Tipasa has existed as a modern city. Today more than 25 thousand inhabitants live in it.
