El Kala

El Kala (Arabic: القالة‎‎, French: formerly La Calle, Latin Thinisa in Numidia) is a seaport of Algeria, in El Tarf Province, 56 miles (90 km) by rail east of Annaba and 10 miles (16 km) west of the Tunisian frontier. It is the centre of the Algerian and Tunisian coral fisheries and has an extensive industry in the curing of sardines. The harbour is small and exposed to the northeast and west winds.

History

Thinisa in Numidia was an Ancient city in the Roman province of Numidia. It was important enough to become a bishopric.

The old fortified town, now almost abandoned, is built on a rocky peninsula about 400 metres long, connected with the mainland by a bank of sand. After the occupation of La Calle by the French in 1836, a new town grew up along the coast.

Titular see of Thinisa in Numidia

In 1933, the Ancient diocese of Thinisa in Numidia was nominally restored as a Catholic titular see of the lowest (episcopal) rank.

It has had the following incumbents:

• Francesco Venanzio Filippini, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (1933.05.23 – 1973.03.31)
• Mario Revollo Bravo (1973.11.13 – 1978.02.28) (later Cardinal)
• Javier Lozano Barragán (1979.06.05 – 1984.10.28) (later Cardinal)
• Mario Picchi, Salesians (S.D.B.) (1989.06.19 – 1997.03.29)
• Vincenzo Pelvi (1999.12.11 – 2006.10.14) (later Archbishop of Foggia–Bovino)
• Laurent Chu Văn MinhAuxiliary Bishop of Hanoi (Vietnam) (2008.10.15 – ...) .

Sources and External links

• El Kala
• GigaCatholic, with titular incumbent biographical links

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: