For the Islamic eschatological

Eschatology

Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...

 figure, see Mahdi

Mahdi

In Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years- before the Day of Judgment and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "central religious...

.

For the town in Guyana, see Mahdia, Guyana

Mahdia, Guyana

Mahdia is a small community in the Potaro-Siparuni region of Guyana, located near the centre of the country at an altitude of . Commerce is centred around the area's gold and diamond mining operations...

.

Mahdia, ( al-Mahdiya), is a Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

n coastal city with 45,977 inhabitants, south of Monastir

Monastir, Tunisia

-Areas within Monastir:Monastir's north-eastern territories lead into a place called Route de la Falaise, through which you will reach its most notable suburb, Skanes, which is 6 miles from Monastir's town centre...

 and southeast of Sousse

Sousse

Sousse is a city in Tunisia. Located 140 km south of the capital Tunis, the city has 173,047 inhabitants . Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. The name may be of Berber origin: similar names are found in Libya and in...

.

Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax

Sfax

Sfax is a city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD 849 on the ruins of Taparura and Thaenae, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate , and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has population of 340,000...

. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as weaving. It is the capital of Mahdia Governorate

Mahdia Governorate

Mahdia Governorate is one of the twenty-four governorates of Tunisia. It is situated in central-eastern Tunisia. It covers an area of 2,966 km² and has a population of 378,000...

.

History

A city already existed at this site during the time of the Phoenicia

Phoenicia

Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...

ns and Romans

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

; classically

Classical antiquity

Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...

 it was known as Ruspae and later as Henchir Sbia or just Sbia. In the sixth century it was known as Ruspina, and had a western church diocese. It was destroyed during the Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 conquest of North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

. Mahdia was founded by the Fatimids under the Caliph

Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word   which means "successor" or "representative"...

 Abdallah al-Mahdi in 921 and made the capital city of Ifriqiya

Ifriqiya

In medieval history, Ifriqiya or Ifriqiyah was the area comprising the coastal regions of what are today western Libya, Tunisia, and eastern Algeria. This area included what had been the Roman province of Africa, whose name it inherited....

, by caliph Abdallah El Fatimi. It was chosen the capital because of its proximity to the sea, and the promontory on which an important military settlement had been since the time of the Phoenicians. In 1087 the town was attacked

Mahdia campaign

The Mahdia campaign of 1087 was an attack on the North African town of Mahdia by armed ships from Genoa and Pisa in northern Italy. It had been prompted by the actions of its ruler Tamim as a pirate in waters off the Italian peninsula, along with his involvement in Sicily fighting the Norman...

 by raiding ships from Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 and Pisa

Pisa

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...

 who burned the Muslim fleet in the harbor. This played a critical role in winning control of the Western Mediterranean and allowing the First Crusade

First Crusade

The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...

 to be supplied by sea. The Zirid

Zirid

The Zirid dynasty were a Sanhadja Berber dynasty, originating in modern Algeria, initially on behalf of the Fatimids, for about two centuries, until weakened by the Banu Hilal and finally destroyed by the Almohads. Their capital was Kairouan...

 dynasty had its residence here in the 11th century, but was brought to an end by the Norman conquest of the city in 1148. In 1160 the city comes under Almohad

Almohad

The Almohad Dynasty , was a Moroccan Berber-Muslim dynasty founded in the 12th century that established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.The movement was started by Ibn Tumart in the Masmuda tribe, followed by Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi between 1130 and his...

 rule.

The role of the capital was taken over by Tunis

Tunis

Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....

 in the 13th century during the Hafsid Dynasty

Hafsid dynasty

The Hafsids were a Berber dynasty ruling Ifriqiya from 1229 to 1574. Their territories were stretched from east of modern Algeria to west of modern Libya during their zenith.-History:...

. Some buildings still exist from the 10th and 11th centuries, such as the Great Mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

 and the Casbah

Casbah

The Casbah ) is specifically the citadel of Algiers in Algeria and the traditional quarter clustered around it. More generally, a kasbah is the walled citadel of many North African cities and towns...

, which have helped make the city an important tourist attraction.

Later the city was subject to many raids. In 1390 a French crusader

Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...

 army laid siege to the city

Siege of Mahdia

The Mahdian Crusade, also called the Barbary Crusade or Crusade of Barbary, was a Franco-Genoese military expedition in 1390 that led to the siege of Mahdia, then a pirate stronghold in Tunisia...

 but failed to take it. Eventually the city was destroyed and burnt down by the Spanish.

Mahdia was also the site where Khaled Abdelwahhab hid approximately two dozen Jews from the Nazi occupiers during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

External links

• http://www.tourismtunisia.com/togo/mahdia/mahdia.html (engl.)
• LookLex / Tunisia
• Mahdia Portal