58. From Susa to Kairwan.
36 M. Narrow Gauge Railway in 2¼–2½ hrs. (6 fr. 50, 4 fr. 95, 3 fr. 50 c.; return 9 fr. 10, 6 fr. 95, 4 fr. 90 c.). Passengers from Tunis (return-fares 30 fr. 25, 22 fr. 95, 16 fr. 25 c.) change at Kalaâ-Srira (Rail. Restaurant).
From Susa to (5 M.) Kalaâ-Srira, see p. [366]. The line runs, nearly in the same direction as the Susa and Tebessa (p. [315]) Roman road, to the S.W., on the right bank of the Oued Laya (p. [366]), to the (8 M.) Réservoir of the Susa waterworks.
At (10 M.) Oued-Laya, a small oasis of fruit-trees and vegetables, the olive-zone of the Sahel ends. 17½ M. Kroussiah-Sahali. 23 M. Sidi el-Hani, not far from the ruins of Vicus Augusti (?).
To the left, farther on, we obtain a glimpse at the Sebkha Sidi el-Hani, 25 by 12½ M., the largest salt-lake of central Tunisia. To the right, a little farther on, beyond a chain of flat hills, is revealed a striking view of the vast Plain of Kairwan, enclosed by distant mountains, with the town of Kairwan in the background. The low ground, through which the Oued Hathob (p. [320]), Oued Merguellil, and many smaller streams descend from the Sahara Atlas and its plateaux to the Lac de Kelbia (p. [320]; not visible from the train), is often flooded after the winter rains. It is inhabited almost exclusively by the Arab-like nomadic tribes of the Djlass or Zlass. The train runs through plantations of Indian figs.
30½ M. Aïn-Ghrasesia.
From Aïn-Ghrasesia to Metlaoui, 182 M., railway in 13 hrs. (fares 32 fr. 85, 24 fr. 95, 17 fr. 55 c.; from Susa 38 fr. 35, 29 fr. 10, 20 fr. 50 c.). This new railway, diverging here to the S.W., affords the easiest access to the ruins of Sbeïtla, Kasserine, Thelepte, and Feriana in central Tunisia. It runs over a low saddle between the Sebkha Sidi el-Hani (see p. [370]) and the marshy plain of the Oued Hathob, and across the bleak plain of Kairwan, to the S.W. borders of the Sahara Atlas, which it reaches at the foot of Jebel Touila, with its zinc and lead mines.
47½ M. Hadjeb el-Aïoun, the ancient Masclianae, on the Oued Zourzour, is the chief market (Tues.) for the Oulad Sendassen, a branch of the Djlass tribe (p. [370]), and, like the following stations, possesses an alfa-depot. Branch-line to Sbiba, the ancient Sufes, projected.
Farther on we pass the foot of Jebel Hadjeb el-Aïoun to (58½ M.) Djilma (1152 ft.), the Roman Cilma, on a tributary of the Hathob, here called Oued Djilma, We now enter, to the W., the valley of the Oued Menasseur, at the foot of Jebel Mrilah (4508 ft.) and Jebel Sbeïtla, inhabited by the Madjeur tribe (p. [362]).
76 M. Sbeïtla (1762 ft.; hotel), near the extensive ruins of Sufetula, on a plateau on the right bank of the Oued Sbeïtla, as the Oued Menasseur is named here. It was a poor castellum in the time of Augustus, but after the 2nd cent, became one of the most important junctions of different routes, and in the 5–7th cent. attained its prime under the Vandals and the Byzantines. In 645 it became the residence of Gregory, the governor, who had rebelled against Byzantium; it was soon after attacked by the Arabs under Abdallah ibn Saâd (p. [322]), and in 648 it was entirely destroyed. The chief boast of Sbeïtla is the *Capitol (comp. p. [288]), rising in the midst of the ruins. The temple-court, once used by the Byzantines as a fortress and now destroyed save a few fragments of the limestone pavement, was entered by a three-arched propylæum, bearing an inscription in honour of Antoninus Pius (138–61). The chief temple was pseudo-peripteral, with composite columns; there are still traces of the steps up to it and of the portico. The three cellæ are well preserved, especially at the back, and have a transverse wall, instead of a semicircular apse, adjoining the Corinthian smaller temples. We may note also a fine Triumphal Arch of the time of Constantine, the remains of a Byzantine Church incorporated with a temple, to the N. of the capitol, a Chapel built into a smaller temple, to the E., and the Aqueduct across the Oued Sbeïtla. Higher up is the spring of the new water-conduit, 103 M. long, which supplies the town of Sfax.
Passing many other ruins we come to the Plaine du Foussana (about 2650 ft.), one of the upper districts of the Oued Hathob, here called Foussana, at the S. foot of Jebel Semmama (4307 ft.; with the zinc-mines of Aïn-Khamouda on its N. side). Then a descent to (95 M.) Kasserine (2382 ft.), the ancient Cillium, a flourishing town from the 2nd cent. A.D. under the name of Colonia Cillitana, now a poor village with a caravanserai on the Thala and Feriana road (see p. [362] and below), not far from the chalky limestone masses of Jebel Chambi (5217 ft.; p. [320]). We may here visit the ruins of the Roman Arch and of the Tomb of the Petronii, and above all the interesting Mausoleum of T. Flavius Secundus, of the time of Trajan. This is a kind of tower in three stories, in the Phœnician fashion, terminating in a pyramid; the 110 bombastic lines of the inscription correspond with the number of years attained by the deceased. A little to the S., on the Oued Derb, are remains of a Roman Barrage,—The landscape farther on, where Roman ruins still abound, assumes more and more the Sahara character.
116 M. Thelepte (hotel) is the station for the ruins of the ancient town of that name, now called Medinet el-Khedima (‘the old town’), which in the 2nd–4th cent. A.D. was the chief place on the road between Tebessa (p. [315]) and Gafsa (p. [383]). Large thermæ, ruins of early-Christian basilicas, and a Byzantine fortress with many towers are to be seen here. The extensive Roman Quarries are interesting.
118½ M. Feriana (2628 ft.; Hôt. Hostelier; Restaurant Bernard; pop. 1200), an oasis of corn, fruit, and vegetables on the Oued Feriana, in the midst of a sandy plain, has a new and pretty mosque.—Thence we cross the Plateau de Msila (2930 ft.), overgrown with alfa, and descend to (134 M.) Maâjen Bel-Abbès, with the ruins of a Roman town, 28 M. to the N.W. of Gafsa. 141 M. Sidi Bou-Beker.
153½ M. Henchir Souatir (about 1640 ft.). A short branch-line diverges hence to Aïn-Moularès (1806 ft.), a caravanserai near the great beds of phosphate on the Algerian frontier.
166 M. Tabeditt is connected by railway with (9½ M.) Redeyef, which has rich phosphate deposits.—Beyond Tabeditt the train runs through the valley of the Oued Seldja (p. [386]), here inhabited by the Oulad Sidi-Abid nomads, to (183 M.) Metlaoui (p. [386]).
The Kairwan Line runs to the W. over the bleak steppe, often passing the tents and the browsing camels and cattle of the Djlass (p. [370]). We cross the Oued Hathob, here called Zeroud.
To the right, especially in the afternoon, we have a delightful *View of the white houses of Kairwan, with its countless domes and towering minarets. Nearing the station we see extensive fields of cactus and large alfa-stacks.
36 M. Kairwan.—Hotels (comp. p. [324]). Splendid Hotel (Pl. a; C, 5), R. 3, B. 1, déj. or D. 3, omn. ½ fr.; Hôt. de France (Pl. b; C, 5), R. 2½–4, B. ¾, déj. or D. 3, pens. 7½ fr.; both in the Place Carnot, tolerable.—Café de France, Rue Massicault.—Post & Telegraph Office (Pl. C, D, 4), Rue de la Poste.—Physician. Dr. Santschi (a Swiss), Grande Rue, near the Bâb Djelladin.
In Half-a-Day, if pressed for time, we may visit the Grande Rue, the Souks, the Sidi Okba Mosque, and the Mosquée du Barbier. Tickets for the mosques are obtained at the office of the Contrôle Civil (p. [373]) or at the hotels. The overseers of the mosques mostly speak Arabic only. The guides, who are quite unnecessary, are very importunate.
Travellers in haste should endeavour to secure a cab (as yet only one), drive to the Contrôle Civil, the Barber’s Mosque, and back to the Porte de Tunis (p. [377]), and there begin their inspection of the town.
Kairwan or Kairouan (243 ft.; pop. 22,000, incl. about 800 Europeans), the oldest capital of Ifrikia, is a town of purely Arabian type, the most curious in Tunisia. The old town is an irregular rectangle, enclosed by a wall 33 ft. high and 2 M. in length; the large W. suburb, also purely Oriental, is the Faubourg des Djlass, called after the nomadic tribe of that name (p. [370]); to the S. is a new suburb near the station. The numerous mosques and zaouïas date mostly from the Turkish period. The town holds market for the extensive plain of Kairwan, and the souks are still important, though manufactures have declined. The climate (p. [321]) is extremely hot in summer.
Kairwan was founded by Sidi Okba ben-Nâfi (p. [322]) in 671, and was appointed by the caliphs to be the seat of the governors of Ifrikia. As the capital of the great Aglabide empire (p. [323]) and the seat of the oldest high school in N. Africa, it was hardly less important than Cordova (p. [68]), and the sumptuous mosque of Sidi Okba rapidly became the favourite goal of pilgrims from E. Barbary. After the Hilalides (p. [323]) had destroyed the greater part of the town in 1048 it was for centuries almost deserted, notwithstanding the favour shown to it by Abd el-Mûmen (p. [95]), the Hafsides, and the Merinides (p. [95]). In the early 16th cent. several quarters still lay in ruins. It was not till the Turkish period that the sacred town, ‘one of the four gates of Paradise’, which neither Christian nor Jew durst enter, again became the religious centre of the land. To spend one’s last days within its walls, and to be buried in hallowed earth outside its gates, seemed to believers the height of bliss. Its sacred character, which however did not prevent the beys of Tunis from bombarding and partly destroying the rebellious town, was finally lost when the mosques were desecrated by the entry of the French troops in 1881.
In the centre of the S. suburb, almost exclusively inhabited by Europeans, is the Place Carnot (Pl. C, 5), with its small Jardin Public. On its W. side the Rue du Contrôle, with the building of the Contrôle Civil (Pl. C, 5; see p. [372]), leads to the N. to the Place Mérabet (Pl. C, 4) and the S. gate of the town-walls, which were largely rebuilt after the bombardment of 1740.
On emerging from the Rue du Contrôle we see immediately to the left the Zaouïa Sidi ben-Aïssa (Pl. C, 5), where the hideous castigations of the Aïssaoua sect, originally Moroccan, are held on Friday afternoons. A little to the N.E., in the Rue de la Poste, is the M’sala Darb et-Tamar (Pl. D, 4; no admittance), a large open place of prayer for great Mohammedan festivals, with an underground cistern for rain-water.
The main street of the old town, between the Bâb Djelladin (Pl. C, 4; ‘Porte des Peaussiers’), or S. gate, now partly demolished, and the N. gate, the Porte de Tunis (p. [377]), is the Grande Rue (Pl. C, B, 4, 3), officially called Rue du Général-Saussier, enlivened by a picturesque crowd and numerous small shops.
In the Rue Sidi el-Guerian, the second side-street on the right, is the zaouïa of Sidi Abid el-Guerian (Pl. C, 4), an elegant building of the Turkish period (16th cent.?). The handsome portal, with the black and white striped decoration so often recurring in the other buildings, leads into a vestibule with tiled walls and stucco decoration, beyond which are a fine colonnaded court in two stories (with the sumptuous tomb of the saint on the left) and a small mosque. Adjacent on the left is the court of the Medersa (p. [228]), where the capitals of the columns are remarkable for their richness and variety.
Farther on in the Grande Rue are several mosques of little architectural interest. The gateway on the right, halfway between the two town-gates, leads to the Souks (Pl. C, 3, 4). The vaulted main street here, the Souk des Selliers and Souk des Cordonniers, is intersected by two vaulted side-streets, the Souk des Parfums and Souk des Tapis. The latter, for the sale of carpets, woollen rugs (margums), etc., has declined since the vegetable dyes have been superseded by the aniline. The farther part of the main street is the Souk des Gandourahs, ending at the quiet Place Finot (Pl. C, 3).
To the S.E. from the Place Finot the short Rue Moulei-Taïeb leads to the—
Djamâa Tleta Biban (Pl. C, D, 3; Mosquée des Trois-Portes), in the Rue Hassin Lalenni. It dates from the time of Obeïd Allah el-Mahdi (p. [369]), being the only early-Moorish building in Kairwan besides the Sidi Okba mosque, but was much altered in 1440 and 1509. The peculiar façade in three sections, with blind arcades (possessing Byzantine capitals) on the lower story, is composed above of older slabs with geometrical ornamentation. The interior is uninteresting.
We follow the Rue de la Mosquée des Trois-Portes to the N.E., then the Rue Zoughar to the right, and at the end of it a street to the left to the town-wall. To the left, in 2 min. more, we reach the Place de Sousse, with the Bâb el-Khoukha (Pl. D, 2, 3), the E. town-gate, an interesting double gateway, with two fine Byzantine capitals on the inner archway. From the N. end of the Place de Sousse the broad Rue de la Grande-Mosquée leads to the—
*Sidi Okba Mosque (Grande Mosquée; Pl. D, 1, 2), one of the oldest in the world, and, next to the Kairwin mosque at Fez, the most important in Barbary. After the mosques of Mecca and Medina and the Dome of the Rock at Jerusalem (p. [477]), this has ever been deemed the greatest sanctuary of Islam. The poverty of the oldest building, founded by Sidi Okba ben-Nâfi in 671, is evidenced by the mud-built walls of the old mihrâb (p. [377]). A new building was first erected in 703 by Hassan ibn en-Nôman (p. [322]), the conqueror of Carthage. The plan seems to have been suggested by that of the oldest Egyptian mosques (such as the mosque of Amru, p. [460]), combined with that of the Damous el-Karita (p. [349]), while the ruins of Carthage, Susa, and Sbeïtla (p. [371]) supplied the building-materials. Of a second new building by the governor Bichr ibn Safuan, in 724, the fortress-like lower story of the minaret still exists. A further extension was made in 821 by the Aglabide Sijadet Allah I. The central story of the minaret, the arcades of the quadrangle, the Bâb el-Behou (p. [376]), and the last enlargement of the sanctuary itself are due to the Aglabide Ibrahim ibn-Ahmed (d. 875), who erected also the fine dome of the mihrâb, caused the mihrâb-wall to be decorated by Bagdad artists, and presented the superb Friday pulpit. The present maksûra (seat of the caliph) dates from the time of the Zirite Abû Teminn el-Muizz (p. [443]). The decay of the mosque after the irruption of the Hilalides seems to have been first arrested by Abd el-Mûmen and the Hafside El-Mostanser Billah (p. [332]). The latter, in 1284, caused most of the outer gateways to be rebuilt. At a later period we hear of restorations by Mohammed Murad Bey (p. [335]) and Hussein Ali ben-Turki (p. [323]). In 1828–42 the insecure state of the mosque necessitated the rebuilding of the external walls on the N.W. and N.E. sides and the restoration of the minaret, the Bâb el-Behou, and the arcades of the court. In 1872 the nave and its two adjoining aisles also were restored, but with little taste, and since 1895 the French government has bestowed its attention on the transept and the side-portals.
The immense edifice, an irregular quadrilateral of 136 by about 78–82 yds., covers an area of over 2¼ acres. The fortress-like Outer Wall, with its huge buttresses, has four doors on both its longer sides. These have lost their bronze mountings and some of them their cupolas. Above the S.E. wall rises the dome of the mihrâb chapel and above the N.W. wall the minaret.
We first walk round the whole enclosure. From the Rue de la Grande-Mosquée a short street leads to the right, past the new Court of Ablution (comp. p. [63]), to a large open space adjoining the S.E. end of the mosque, where there are numerous underground silos or granaries. From the walls here project the buildings of the mihrâb chapel and the maksûra, with the Bâb el-Imâm (p. [377]).
A few paces farther, at the beginning of the ‘Boulevard Ali Bey’, a poor street on the N.E. side of the precincts, is the massive square gateway tower of *Bâb Lella Rejana, adjoined by the insignificant domed tomb of that saint. The front half of the gateway, restored in 1828, is painted like the minaret with ‘giant-spiders’ to ward off snakes and scorpions, and is adorned below the battlements with blind horseshoe arcades. The perforated stucco decoration of the arch-recesses of the side-portals is one of the earliest examples of such work. The long inscription over the door extols caliph El-Mostanser-Billah (p. [374]), the builder.
Passing the next three gates we come to the N. angle of the precincts, where their fortress-like character is most apparent. Beside the embrasures of the minaret (p. [376]) are seen cannon-ball marks made during the bombardments of the 18th century.
The S.W. wall of the mosque, in the Rue de la Grande-Mosquée, which we now regain, is most in conformity with the original plan. Most noteworthy here are the first gateway-tower, near the N.W. angle, and the Bâb es-Sultân, the last gate, through which led the shortest way from the caliph’s palace to the maksûra (comp. p. [377]). The domes, now adorned with the Turkish crescent, still possess their girdle of battlements and have their old cornice of bricks placed crosswise.
The present Entrance Gateway (visitors knock) is one of the small middle gates beside the Bâb es-Sultân. We descend a few steps to the court (now below the level of the street), where the irregular plan of the building is most distinctly seen.
The *Court is bordered on the N.W. side by a single colonnade and on the other sides by double arcades, which on the S.E. side form the porch of the sanctuary. In contrast to the orange-court at Cordova (p. [70]), it is much larger than the sanctuary itself. The marble pavement is modern. The perforated stone in the centre of the court conducts the rain-water from the gutters on the flat roofs into a filtering-apparatus and into three Cisterns below. The old Court of Ablution (Ancienne Mida; comp. above), near the W. angle, and the rooms adjoining the minaret are now used as lumber-rooms.
The Minaret, 128 ft. high, an extremely massive tower in three stories, rises in the centre of the N.W. wall, and not in the central axis of the building as is usual. The substructures have been built of Roman stones and the doorway framed with antique decorative slabs. The square lowest story and narrower middle story are crowned with peculiar battlements with small embrasures. Above the three metal balls (p. [195]) of the present dome is perched the Turkish crescent.
The *Ascent of the Minaret (127 easy steps) should not be omitted. On the lower platform we note the muezzin’s hut (p. [180]). The upper platform commands a superb survey of the many-domed town, of the Barber’s Mosque (p. [378]), of the large cemeteries to the W., and of the great plain of Kairwan, bounded by Jebel Trozza and other distant hills.
In the centre of the porch of the sanctuary is the square Bâb el-Behou (‘pavilion-gate’) with a great horseshoe archway and pinnacled summit. The drum and dome, formerly resembling the dome of the mihrâb, were rebuilt in 1828. The timber ceiling of the adjoining arcades is now partly replaced by brick-vaulting.
The *Main Door of the sanctuary, in cedar-wood, also was renewed in 1828 by wood-carvers from Sfax (p. [380]). The wings are beautifully enriched with network, rosettes, and arabesques (p. [445]). Over the door are a frieze with an inscription and another adorned with mashrebîyeh or lattice-work, and above these is a pediment decorated with charming scroll-work. The side-doors, also in cedar-wood, and partly modern, have a simpler geometric ornamentation, resembling that of the maksûra screen (p. [377]).
The *Interior of the sanctuary, in the form of a so-called Egyptian cross (⟙), with a broad transept at the back, has a nave and sixteen aisles, with eight rows of arcades. In the axis of the Bâb el-Behou, above the intersection of the nave and transept, rises the dome of the mihrâb-chapel, in front of the mihrâb-recess. The timber ceilings of the aisles, dating from different centuries, still retain interesting traces of their old painting. The effect of the nave is marred by the new braces and the clumsy modern stucco-decoration of the upper walls. The candelabra are ancient, but of little artistic value. The old pavement has disappeared and so too have the tapestries once used for festivals. The somewhat colourless aspect of the interior is compensated by the beauty of the columns, which here, as well as in the court, merit careful study. The shafts, as at Cordova, are of surprisingly various materials: white and coloured marble, onyx, granite, porphyry, and variegated breccia. Besides the few Moorish capitals in the more modern parts of the mosque, we note Roman, early-Christian, Byzantine, and even Punic-Ionic forms. Owing to their unequal lengths some of the columns have been raised while others are partly buried in the earth.
The *Mihrâb Chapel, unfortunately thickly whitewashed, is specially noteworthy for its sumptuous decoration and the peculiar construction of its dome. The chief enrichment of the wall consists of *Fayence with gold lustre, the oldest mediæval relic of this art-industry, the origin of which seems to be indicated by the name of ‘tchini’ (China tiles) given to it by native writers. The two beautiful Byzantine columns which bear the archivolts of the mihrâb are said to have come from Carthage. Through the marble screen of the niche, now disfigured by painting, we obtain a glimpse at the ancient mihrâb of the time of Sidi Okba (p. [374]).
The **Mimbar, or Friday pulpit, unfortunately very tastelessly restored in 1907, adjoining the mihrâb-recess on the right, is one of the earliest and most beautiful creations of early-Moorish art. On the model of the Byzantine ivory carving, its rectangular sections are most charmingly enriched with a great variety of scroll-work and arabesques. The material is sycamore-wood.
The present *Maksûra (see p. [71]), to the right of the pulpit, seems to be now enclosed with fragments of an older screen of the caliph’s maksûra and parts of the wooden screen of a former maksûra for the ladies of the court (to the left of the pulpit). The central sections, destroyed in part, with their plain geometric decoration, are framed with graceful arabesques. The long Cufic inscription under the pinnacles of the summit records the name of the founder (p. [374]) amidst verses from the Koran.
At the back of the Maksûra is a *Door, framed with late-Roman marble ornamentation and tastefully embellished with iron nails and two knockers, leading into a corridor. The side-room on the left, with another fine old door, contains a few relics of the once famous Kairwan Library. The small door in the external wall is the Bâb el-Imâm (‘gate of the preacher’).
We now return by the Rue el-Kadraouine (Pl. D, C, 2, 3) to Place Finot (p. [373]) and the Souks; or we follow the town-wall, through the Rue Sidi Abd el-Kader (Pl. D, C, 2) and past the zaouïa Sidi Abd el-Kâder el-Djilâni (p. [183]) and the Kasba (Pl. B, C, 2; barracks), and so regain the Grande Rue.
At the N. end of the Grande Rue is the new Porte de Tunis (Pl. B, 3; adjoining the fine old gateway, adorned with antique columns), leading into the Place de Tunis, the outer market-place, a haunt of reciters and jugglers, with a large Fondouk (see p. [281]).
From the Place de Tunis we may now walk to the N., past the pretty park of the Pépinière (Pl. B, 1), to the (10 min.) Bassins des Aglabides, two round reservoirs, the smaller of which was once used for filtering purposes. Both have been utilized since 1885 for the conduit of Cherichera, 18¾ M. long.
A road, much used by caravans, leads from the Place de Tunis, past the dilapidated Feskia du Saïd (Pl. A, 2; a rain-water basin), of the time of Sijadet Allah I., and between cactus-hedges, to the N.W. to (¼ hr.) the so-called—
*Mosquée du Barbier (beyond Pl. A, 2), the finest building of the Turkish period. This mosque, which has long been regarded as the second great sanctuary of Kairwan, lies most picturesquely among low hills and is surrounded with white tombs of saints and Moslem cemeteries. It is dedicated to Abû Zemaâ el-Beloui, the traditional friend (sahâb) and barber of the prophet.
The extensive group of buildings, with several medersas annexed, dates chiefly from the 17–19th centuries. The outer gate leads into a low forecourt. In the corner, between the two main entrances, rises the handsome minaret (*View), in four stories, with blind arcades in the two lower, and crowned with pinnacles and the muezzin’s turret. The large W. portal, adorned like the minaret with Byzantine columns, opens into the first inner court, on whose W. side rises the plain mosque itself with its nave and two aisles. A remarkably beautiful domed chamber leads into the second *Inner Court, a perfect gem, with its slender little marble columns, old wall-tiles, rich stucco-decoration, and modern soffited ceilings. A superb marble portal of Italian workmanship (18th cent.) leads to the alleged tomb of Sidi Sahâb, which is railed in and surrounded with valuable old Kairwan carpets besides much European frippery. From the domed chamber a *Colonnade to the left and another ante-room, also embellished with fine mural tiles, lead us back to the outer court.
The large Moslem Cemeteries, which extend round the Faubourg des Djlass (p. [372]) from the Barber’s Mosque all the way to the S. suburb, still contain some very old tombstones. They afford a beautiful view of Kairwan, especially by evening light.
The Djamâa Amor Abeda (Pl. A, 3, 4; popularly called Mosquée des Sabres), whose five huge domes of mediæval type dominate the poor streets of the Faubourg des Djlass, was built by the saint of that name (d. 1871), formerly a smith, with alms collected for the purpose.