TENES

also spelled Tenez town, northern Algeria. A small Mediterranean port, it is built on the site of the ancient Phoenician and Roman colonies of Catenna. Ruins of the Roman colony's ramparts and tombs remain, and the Roman cisterns are still in use. Old Tns, probably founded in AD 875 by Spanish colonists, belonged to the city of Tlemcen from 1299 until its capture by the corsair Khayr ad-Din (Barbarossa) in 1517. It was occupied by the French in 1843. The modern town of Tns rests on a rocky plateau overlooking the Wadi Allalah estuary and a harbour sheltered on the east by Cape Tns. The remains of Old Tns are 1 mile (1.5 km) southeast. The modern town's industry includes fish canning and the production of soft drinks. Pop. (1987 prelim.) mun., 26,510.