Zarzis (original) (raw)

"Jarjis" redirects here. For the village in Iran, see Jarjish.

Place in Médenine Governorate, Tunisia

Zarzis جرجيس
The mosque of ZarzisThe mosque of Zarzis
Nickname: "درّة الجنوب" (dorrat al-janoub) which means "The Pearl of the South"
Zarzis is located in TunisiaZarzisZarzis
Coordinates: 33°30′N 11°7′E / 33.500°N 11.117°E / 33.500; 11.117
Country Tunisia
Governorate Médenine Governorate
Government
• Mayor Mekki Laraiedh (Ennahdha)
Area
• Total 340 km2 (130 sq mi)
Elevation 18 m (59 ft)
Population (2014)
• Total 78,766
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)

Zarzis, also known as Jarjis (Arabic: جرجيس gergīs / zerzīsⓘ), is a coastal commune (municipality) in southeastern Tunisia, former bishopric and Latin Catholic titular see under its ancient name Gergis.

To the Phoenicians, Romans and Arabs the port was of strategic importance.

It lies on the coast of the Mediterranean, where the climate is mainly dry and sunny, making it a popular tourist destination mixing the old and the traditional. It has a major port where a park of economic activities is based.

Located at the southern end of the eastern peninsula that bears his name, the délégation (district) of Zarzis has a very large coastline. There are a variety of landscapes reflecting a great diversity of climatic conditions.

Buildings and structures

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The city was known in Antiquity as Gergis and located at the western end of the Lesser Syrtis (Gulf of Gabès), not far from the island of Meninx (current Djerba). The town may owe its name and/or origin to the Biblical tribes of Girgashites which, according to ancient Jewish writers, had left the Canaan at the time of Joshua and went to settle in North Africa.[_citation needed_]

According to Stadiasme, it had a castle, where stood the ruins and a citadel modern still bearing the old name albeit now pronounced Zarzis, and a (navy) port.

Gergis was important enough in the Roman province of Tripolitania (in the papal sway) to become a suffragan bishopric, which was to fade, presumably at the seventh century advent of Islam. Its ecclesiastical history is confused, due to confusion in consulting the Latin sources with the near-homonymous diocese Girba (modern Djerba).[2]

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric of Gergis (Latin) / Gergi (Curiate Italian) / Gergitan(us) (Latin adjective).

It has had the following incumbents, so far of the fitting Episcopal (lowest) rank :

BIOs to ELABORATE

Economic activity of Zarzis is mainly based on tourism, fishing and agriculture; in industry, the food sector dominates with 55 of 89 firms.

The olive occupies a special place in Zarzis where there are 1,228,700 feet occupying an area of 61,335 hectares of which 85% are in full production[_citation needed_]. Production of the campaign 1999 - 2000 reached 59,500 tons olives, equivalent to 11,900 tons of olive oil. This production is processed through the 57 mills [_clarification needed_] of the delegation and provides more than 5,000 direct jobs. In 2011, the city is the scene of stowaway to Europe.[3]The local economy is diverse—agriculture, mainly olives, oil and tourism.

  1. ^ "Air navigation obstacles en-route" (PDF). 2014-02-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-02-11.
  2. ^ Anatole-Joseph Toulotte's Géographie de l'Afrique chrétienne. Byzacène et Tripolitaine assigns some bishops which Mesnage's L'Afrique chrétienne lists at Girba to belong to Gergis.
  3. ^ (in French) "But why do they still leave Tunisia? "Time this, TSR, 23 June 2011

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Bibliography - ecclesiastical history

Media related to Zarzis at Wikimedia Commons