Chebba


Chebba is a small city in the Mahdia Governorate of Tunisia in North Africa on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

History

The city of Chebba derives its name from the headland to the east, which was classically known as Caput Vada.
The Byzantine general Belisarius landed here in 533 and went on to inflict a devastating defeat on the Vandals. The town of Chebba was founded by Justinian about 534 CE after the defeat of the Vandals, and named Justinianopolis.
The headland is now known as Ras Kaboudia and is site of the ruins of the bordj of Bordj Khadidja, which was built upon Byzantine foundations. The fortress guarded the harbor entrance and was one of a chain of similar forts built by the Abbasids along the coast of North Africa in the 8th century. It was later renamed after Khadija Ben Kalthoum, a poet of the eleventh century, who was born in Chebba.