|
Kerkennah Islands ( ') are a group of islands lying off the east coast of Tunisia in the Gulf of Gabès, at . The Islands are low-lying being no more than above sea level. The main islands are Chergui and Gharbi. The archipelago has an area of and a population of 15,501 (2014). Kerkennah's main town, Remla (on Chergui) has a population of 2,000. The population of the islands significantly decreased during the 1980s due to drought. The islands were unable to provide suitable irrigation systems and, with clean water rapidly running out, many islanders were forced to leave for mainland Tunisia, the nearest town being Sfax. == History == Kerkennah has a lengthy, but simple history. The natives of Tunisia and Kerkennah originally settled there, but during the spread of the Roman Empire, Kerkennah was used as a port and look-out point by the Romans, to keep note of off-shore activity. In 2 B.C, Augustus exiled Sempronius Gracchus, a lover of Julia the Elder, to the islands for 14 years for his shameful indiscretions with his then married daughter. Among the Catholic bishops whom the Arian Vandal king Huneric summoned to Carthage in 484, was a Bishop Athenius of Cercina, the seat of the bishopric being in the most easterly island of the group.〔G.-L. Feuille, ''v. Cercina'', in (''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques'' ), vol. XII, Paris 1953, col. 160〕〔Stefano Antonio Morcelli, (''Africa christiana'' ), Volume I, Brescia 1816, pp. 140–141〕 No longer a residential bishopric, Cercina is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.〔''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 866〕 In 532, Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe built a monastery on one of the islets of the group.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kerkennah Islands」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|