Tipasa Archaeological Park

Tipasa, Algeria
40 B.C.

Phoenician merchants established Tipasa on Algeria's western Mediterranean coast in the sixth century B.C., but the city did not reach its apex until the second and first centuries B.C. When it was annexed to the Roman Empire in A.D. 40, Emperor Claudius granted residents Jus Latii (rights of fellow Roman citizens). Over the centuries, Tipasa suffered assaults from Berbers and Vandals and was abandoned in the sixth century after a brief revival under the Byzantines. Archaeologists rediscovered the site in 1856 and excavations have been continuous. Remains have been unearthed on both sides of a Roman wall, including one of the most important paleo-Christian cemeteries in North Africa, an amphitheater, temples, forum, fourth-century basilica, baths, and mosaic works. Physical deterioration from windborne salts and vegetation affect the structures and illegal new building has affected the edges of the site. Tipasa is on the World Heritage List.