35°10′N8°50′E / 35.167°N 8.833°E /35.167; 8.833
Kasserine ڨصرين | |
|---|---|
 Arcade of Kasserine. | |
  Kasserine Location in Tunisia | |
| Coordinates:35°10′N8°50′E / 35.167°N 8.833°E /35.167; 8.833 | |
| Country |  Tunisia |
| Governorate | Kasserine Governorate |
| Delegation(s) | Kasserine North, Kasserine South, Ezzouhour |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Mohamed Kamel Hamzaoui (Nidaa Tounes) |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 116.330 |
| Time zone | UTC1 (CET) |
| Postal code | 1253[1] |
Kasserine (Arabic:القصرين,romanized: al-Qasrīn,Tunisian Arabic: ڨصرينGaṣrīnⓘ) is the capital city of theKasserine Governorate, in west-centralTunisia. It is situated belowJebel ech Chambi ( جبل الشعانبي), Tunisia's highest mountain.[2] Its population is 114,463 (2020).
Inclassical antiquity Kasserine was aRoman colony, known asCillium. UnderRoman EmperorVespasian (69–79) orTitus (79-81), it was elevated to the rank ofmunicipium, and under theSeveran dynasty (193-235) to that ofcolonia (Cillilana). It became Roman territory following the defeat ofCarthage in 146 BC, belonging to the provinces ofAfrica, Africa Vetus, Africa Proconsularus, and finallyAfrica Byzacena following the reforms ofDiocletian in 314 AD.
Archaeological evidence remains on site: mausoleums, triumphal arches,thermae, a theatre and a Christianbasilica.[3]
One noted monument is theTomb of the Flavii, built for local landowner Titus Flavius Secundus in the late second century AD. The Tomb contains a 110-line poem memorializing Flavius, and is the "longest extant Latin funerary epitaph from antiquity.[4]"
The theater was built at the end of the first century AD, probably to celebrate elevation of the town to a municipium,[5] It was restored, and reopened for performances in 2018.[6]
In 544 theByzantines were defeated by theBerbers in the Battle of Cillium.
The town was renamed Kasserine, meaning "The Two Palaces", which is a reference to the two Roman mausoleums.[7]
In 1906, an attack by local bedouin on isolated settler farms near Kasserine, and the French civil administration offices during theThala-Kasserine Disturbances was the first violent resistance to French authority under theprotectorate.
DuringWorld War II, from January to March 1943, the Germans operated aforced labour camp for Jews in the city.[8] In February 1943, it was the site of theBattle of Kasserine Pass.
Cillium was important enough in theRoman province ofByzacena to become asuffragan of the Metropolitan ofHadrumetum.
Cillium was represented at theConference of Carthage (411) between Catholic andDonatist bishops by the Catholic Tertiolus and the Donatist Donatus. In 484, Fortunatianus of Cillium was one of the Catholic bishops whom theArianVandal kingHunericsummoned to Carthage and then exiled.[9][10][11]
No longer a residential bishopric, Cillium is today listed by theCatholic Church as atitular see.[12]
Since its nominal restoration in 1925, the Latin titular bishopric has had the following incumbents, both of the lowest (episcopal) rank:
Kasserine is located in western central Tunisia. By road it is 200 kilometres west ofSfax, 246 kilometres (180 mi) south-west of the capitalTunis, and 166 kilometres (141 mi) south-west ofSousse.
Kasserine is divided into 11 districts:
Places adjacent to Kasserine | |
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| Climate data for Kasserine (1991–2020, extremes 1950–2017) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 25.2 (77.4) | 31.5 (88.7) | 33.0 (91.4) | 34.7 (94.5) | 41.7 (107.1) | 43.4 (110.1) | 43.6 (110.5) | 42.5 (108.5) | 40.3 (104.5) | 36.0 (96.8) | 31.6 (88.9) | 26.5 (79.7) | 43.6 (110.5) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 13.8 (56.8) | 14.9 (58.8) | 18.5 (65.3) | 22.0 (71.6) | 27.0 (80.6) | 32.2 (90.0) | 36.1 (97.0) | 35.2 (95.4) | 29.9 (85.8) | 25.1 (77.2) | 18.8 (65.8) | 14.8 (58.6) | 24.0 (75.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 8.4 (47.1) | 9.2 (48.6) | 12.2 (54.0) | 15.4 (59.7) | 19.8 (67.6) | 24.4 (75.9) | 27.7 (81.9) | 27.3 (81.1) | 23.3 (73.9) | 18.8 (65.8) | 13.1 (55.6) | 9.5 (49.1) | 17.4 (63.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.9 (37.2) | 3.5 (38.3) | 6.0 (42.8) | 8.8 (47.8) | 12.7 (54.9) | 16.7 (62.1) | 19.4 (66.9) | 19.3 (66.7) | 16.7 (62.1) | 12.5 (54.5) | 7.5 (45.5) | 4.3 (39.7) | 10.9 (51.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −7.0 (19.4) | −6.0 (21.2) | −3.0 (26.6) | 0.0 (32.0) | 3.2 (37.8) | 8.0 (46.4) | 10.5 (50.9) | 12.0 (53.6) | 5.8 (42.4) | 0.5 (32.9) | −3.1 (26.4) | −6.5 (20.3) | −7.0 (19.4) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 19.0 (0.75) | 15.8 (0.62) | 21.1 (0.83) | 25.8 (1.02) | 29.2 (1.15) | 19.4 (0.76) | 14.8 (0.58) | 28.0 (1.10) | 38.2 (1.50) | 23.3 (0.92) | 23.7 (0.93) | 13.5 (0.53) | 271.9 (10.70) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 2.7 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 5.3 | 3.7 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 41.5 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 184.9 | 177.5 | 223.6 | 226.3 | 244.9 | 261.8 | 280.4 | 262.7 | 221.5 | 216.4 | 187.5 | 171.3 | 2,658.8 |
| Source 1: Institut National de la Météorologie (extremes 1950-2017, sun 1981-2010)[14][15][16][17][note 1] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA[19] | |||||||||||||
Kasserine's most popular sport club is theAS Kasserine (football, soccer).
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