Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania, in Tipaza
Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania – Tipaza.
With Roman penetration, the last independent kings settled in Iol (Cherchell today), capital of a kingdom which bore the name of Mauretania. This kingdom extended from the Sétif region to the Atlantic.
The presence of the royal mausoleum which stands on a height in the coastal Sahel, about forty kilometers east of Cherchell, can only be explained by the proximity of a royal city.
Reproducing on a larger scale the Medracen mausoleum, the tomb wrongly called Christian Tomb has been attributed without proof by many historians to Cleopatra Selene and her husband Juba II, king of Numidia. Measuring 60 m in diameter, this monument is made up of an enormous faceted cylinder topped with a stepped cone.
Around its perimeter, it is decorated with 60 engaged columns, topped with Ionic capitals.
The current height of the building is 32 m. Due to its location at the top of a hill, it is visible from a very distance either from the sea, a landmark for fishermen, or from the Mitidja plain and the heights of the Blidean Atlas.
With Roman penetration, the last independent kings settled in Iol (Cherchell today), capital of a kingdom which bore the name of Mauretania. This kingdom extended from the Sétif region to the Atlantic.
The presence of the royal mausoleum which stands on a height in the coastal Sahel, about forty kilometers east of Cherchell, can only be explained by the proximity of a royal city.
Reproducing on a larger scale the Medracen mausoleum, the tomb wrongly called Christian Tomb has been attributed without proof by many historians to Cleopatra Selene and her husband Juba II, king of Numidia. Measuring 60 m in diameter, this monument is made up of an enormous faceted cylinder topped with a stepped cone.
Around its perimeter, it is decorated with 60 engaged columns, topped with Ionic capitals.
The current height of the building is 32 m. Due to its location at the top of a hill, it is visible from a very distance either from the sea, a landmark for fishermen, or from the Mitidja plain and the heights of the Blidean Atlas.