Tipasa
Djemila
Les Mausolées Royaux de Numidie, de la Maurétanie et les monuments funéraires pré-islamiques (17/01/2012)
Sites, lieux et itinéraires augustiniens du Maghreb central (30/12/2002)
Kasbah of Algiers. Historic hillside neighborhood is crammed with 80,000 people, local markets, artisans, mosques and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Twisting stone paths create a labyrinth-like maze of hills. White vaulted stucco houses creep over alleys and roads. Homes are literally collapsing and killing their occupants. The construction of the outer walls and gates of the Casbah date to the early 16th century. Famed for European hostages ransomed back by the local pirates. The Casbah was also a hotbed of Algerian resistance against French colonialism with some street art remembering those heroes.
Augustinian roads and places in central Maghreb (Sites, lieux et itinéraires augustiniens du Maghreb central) Tentative WHS: (30/12/2002)
is a selection of places and roads connected to the philospher, theologian, rhetoric, and church founder Augustine. The following historical sites / monuments are part of the world heritage:
Calama(Guelma), Hipponeor Hippo (Annaba), Thibilis(Announa), Thubursicu Numidarum(Khamissa), Madaurosor Madaure (M’daourouch), Thagaste(Souk Ahras), Castellum Tidditanorum(Tiddis), Thagura(Taoura), Milev(Mila), Sitifis(Setif), Cesareaor Caesarea (Cherchel), Cartenae(Ténes), Theveste(Tébessa), Tubunae(Tobna)
Ténès: Cap Ténès Lighthouse
DJÉMILA (“the Beautiful one”), formerly Cuicul, is a small mountain village in Algeria, near the northern coast east of Algiers, where some of the best preserved Berbero-Roman ruins in a North Africa mountain environment are found. Significant buildings in ancient Cuicul include a theatre, two fora, temples, basilicas, arches, streets, and houses. The exceptionally well preserved ruins surround the forum of the Harsh, a large paved square with an entry marked by a majestic arch.
Under the name of Cuicul, the city was built 900 metres (3,000 ft) above sea level during the 1st century AD as a Roman military garrison situated on a narrow triangular plateau in the province of Numidia. The terrain is somewhat rugged, being located at the confluence of two rivers.
Cuicul’s builders followed a standard plan with a forum at the center and two main streets, the Cardo Maximus and the Decumanus Maximus, composing the major axes. The city was initially populated by a colony of Roman soldiers from Italy, and eventually grew to become a large trading market. The resources that contributed to the prosperity of the city were essentially agricultural (cereals, olive trees and farm).
During the reign of Caracalla in the 3rd century, Cuicul’s administrators took down some of the old ramparts and constructed a new forum. They surrounded it with larger and more impressive edifices than those that bordered the old forum. The terrain hindered building, so that they built the theatre outside the town walls, which was exceptional.
Christianity became very popular in the 4th century (after some persecutions in the early third century) and brought the addition of a basilica and baptistry. They are to the south of Cuicul in a quarter called “Christian”, and are popular attractions.
The city was slowly abandoned after the fall of the Roman Empire around the 5th century and 6th century. There were some improvements under emperor Justinian I, with wall reinforcements.
Muslims later dominated the region, but did not reoccupy the site of Cuicul, which they renamed Djémila (“beautiful” in Arabic).
TIPASA
A very nice city next to Algiers with beautiful beaches and Roman ruins next to the sea.
Since 2002, it has been declared by UNESCO a “World Heritage Site”.
Roman colony. Initially a small ancient Punic trading-post turned into a military colony by the emperor Claudius for the conquest of the kingdoms of Mauretania, it had a population of 20,000 in the fourth century. Under Roman rule the city acquired greater commercial and military importance because of its harbour and its central position on the system of Roman coastal roads in North Africa. A wall of 2,300 metres was built around the city for defense against nomadic tribes, and Roman public buildings and districts of houses were constructed within the enclosure.
All that remains are ruins of three churches — the Great Basilica and the Basilica Alexander on the western hill, and the Basilica of St Salsa on the eastern hill, two cemeteries, the baths, theatre, amphitheatre and nymphaeum. The line of the ramparts can be distinctly traced and at the foot of the eastern hill the remains of the ancient harbour.
The basilicas are surrounded by cemeteries, which are full of coffins, all of stone and covered with mosaics.
Christianity. Algeria became an important centre of Christianity in the 3rd century. In the third century Christianity was worshipped by all the Romanised Berbers and Roman colonists of Tipasa. From this period comes the oldest Christian epitaph in Roman Africa dated October 17, 237 AD. In Tipasa were built the biggest basilicas of actual Algeria: the Alexander basilica and the basilica of Saint Salsa.
About 372 Tipasa withstood an assault by Firmus, the leader of a Berber rebellion that had overrun the nearby cities of Caesarea (modern Cherchell) and Icosium (modern Algiers). Tipasa then served as the base for the Roman counter-campaign. However, Tipasa’s fortifications did not prevent the city from being conquered by the Vandals about 429, bringing to an end the prosperity that the city had enjoyed during the Roman period. In 484, during the persecution of the Catholic church by the Vandal king Huneric, the Catholic bishop of Tipasa was expelled and replaced with an Arian bishop—prompting many inhabitants of the city to flee to Spain. In the ensuing decades the city fell into ruin.
Most of the inhabitants continued to be non-Christian until, according to the legend, Salsa, a Christian maiden, threw the head of their serpent idol into the sea, whereupon the enraged populace stoned her to death. The body, miraculously recovered from the sea, was buried, on the hill above the harbour, in a small chapel which gave place subsequently to the stately basilica. Salsa’s martyrdom took place in the 4th century.
Decline. Tipasa was partially destroyed by the Vandals in 430, but was rebuilt by the Byzantines one century later. Tipasa revived for a brief time during the Byzantine occupation in the 6th century but was given the Arabic language name, Tefassed, when Arabs arrived there. The term translated means badly damaged.
At the end of the seventh century the city was destroyed by the Arabs and reduced to ruins. Modern city In 1857 was settled again the area, with the creation of the city of Tipaza that now has nearly 30,000 inhabitants. The town and its surroundings is home to the largest Berber-speaking group of western Algeria, the Chenoua people.
Al Qal’a of Beni Hammad
Timgad
The ROYAL MAUSOLEUMS of NUMIDIA, MAURITANIA and PRE-ISLAMIC FUNERARY MONUMENTS A Tentative WHS, (17/01/2012), these are funerary goods produced from a brilliant original civilization, both African and Mediterranean.
|These royal monuments represent a selection of remarkable examples of burials dating back to different periods and from different regions. They testify to the diversity of architectural designs and craft techniques developed over several millennia.
This set consists of:
1. Soumaa El Khroub 15 km south east of Cirta, capital of the kingdom Massyle, and 570 m altitude. It is the tomb of Massinissa grand unifier of the ancient Maghreb. Its architecture is Greco-Punic and dates back to the 2nd century BC
2. The Medracen is another circular pyramidical tomb located 34 km north of Batna just off the road from Constantine. It is a Numidian Mausoleum of Berber brand with Punic and Greek influences. It belonged to Massyl Kings and dates back to the third century BC. It is surrounded by a fence and you don’t miss much by not being able to go inside. This tomb looks very much like that of Tipasa – but is smaller at 18.5m high.
The “Punic Culture” was the result of an intermingling with distinctively North African, Berber/Numidian culture to create something still “Mediterranean” and linked to Greece, Rome and even Egypt. The Punic remains of Carthage were of course virtually obliterated by Roman occupation and Tipasa etc also eventually became essentially Roman cities but here – near Batna some 200kms inland from the Mediterranean was something truly “Punic”.
3. The Royal Mauritanian Mausoleum (“Tomb of the Christian” and “tomb of the Roman” in Arabic) is a monument of the Numidian period, located on a ridge of hills , in Sidi Rached, about 12 km from Tipasa and sixty kilometers west of Algiers. The date of construction and the actual function of this monument are not known with certainty. Mentioned in 40 years AD, most believe this is a royal mausoleum built by King Juba II (r. 25 BC-23 AD and his wife, Queen Cleopatra Selene.
The building, a stone mound of about 80,000m3 measures 60.9 meters in diameter and 32.4m in height. It has a cylindrical perimeter 185.5 m long, 60 columns and four false doors with stone panels 6.9 m high and a cross, justifying the traditional name of Christian Tomb.
Above, the conical part consists of 33 stone seats, 58 cm high, and ends with a platform, then, climb seven steps to the circular gallery. At the end of the gallery, a door opens on a vestibule of 4.04 m long and a low corridor leads to the central chamber located in the heart of the monument – 4.04 long, 3.06 wide and 3.43 high. The monument is completely empty of any furniture. No secret room has been found, despite much research.
4. The Mausoleum of Beni Rhenane 12 km southwest of Beni Saf on the edge of Wadi Tafna.
5. Royal Tomb of the Massaesyl dynasty attributed to Syfax in the 2nd century BC. It is similar in its architecture to Medracen.
6. Jeddars, tombs located 30 km south of Tiaret (in the highlands). Remarkable ensemble of funerary monuments built in the 5th and 6th century AD when the region of Tiaret was the site of an important Berber kingdom. The architecture is of Berber inspiration. Nearby presence of other ancient funerary monuments (bazinas and chouchet).
7. The Tin Hinan Tomb (Abalessa) in Hoggar, 80 km west of Tamanrasset and 850 m altitude. Its elliptical architecture dates back to the 5th century AD
NEDROMA et les TRARA (30/12/2002)
Nedroma is a city in Tlemcen Province, in northwestern Algeria, about 77kms from Tlemcen and about 340kms west of Algiers. Nedroma became a UNESCO World Heritage in 2002 for its cultural importance.
Once the capital of Trara, it was built on the ruins of a Berber town by Abd al-Mu’min the Almohad caliph, who himself was a native of the neighboring mountains. The town has a great history of Islam. The earliest surviving Almoravid minbar, dated to around A.H. 479, once belonged to the Great Mosque of Nedroma. It is now on display in the Musée Nationale des Antiquités Classiques et Musulmanes in Algiers.
Great Mosque of Nedroma (Sidi Yahia Mosque) and the Nedroma Hospital in the northern outskirts along the N99. Baked brick is a common building material in the town.
Al Qal’a of Beni Hammad (Beni Hammad Fort) is a fortified palatine city in Algeria., in the 11th century, capital of the Hammadid dynasty. The fortress was built in 1007 and served as the first capital of the Hammadid Berbers. In 1090 it was abandoned under the menace of the Banu Hilal, and was partly destroyed in 1152. It is near the town of Maadid, about 225 kilometres southeast of Algiers, in the Maghreb. In the Hodna Mountains at 1,418 metres (4,652 ft), and receives abundant water from the surrounding mountains.
In 1980, it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and described as “an authentic picture of a fortified Muslim city”.Now in ruins
The town includes a 7-kilometre (4 mi) long line of walls. Inside the walls are four residential complexes, and the largest mosque built in Algeria after that of Mansurah. It is similar in design to the Grand Mosque of Kairouan, with a tall minaret, 20 metres (66 ft).
Excavations have brought to light numerous terracotta, jewels, coins and ceramics testifying to the high level of civilization under the Hammadid dynasty. Also among the artifacts discovered are several decorative fountains using the lion as a motif. The remains of the emir’s palace, known as Dal al-Bahr, include three separate residences separated by gardens and pavilions.
Timgad was a Roman-Berber city in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria founded by the Emperor Trajan around AD 100 as a bastion against the Berbers. It is at 1000m elevation about 35 km east of the city of Batna, one of the best extant examples of the grid plan as used in Roman town planning. Timgad was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982.
It became a center of Christian activity starting in the 3rd century. In the 5th century, the city was sacked by the Vandals before falling into decline.
Because no new settlements were founded on the site after the 7th century AD, the city was partially preserved under sand up to a depth of approximately one meter, the principal reason why the city is so well preserved.
Located at the intersection of six roads, the city was walled but not fortified. Originally designed for a population of around 15,000, the city quickly outgrew its original specifications – an original Roman grid plan in the orthogonal design – the decumanus maximus (east–west-oriented street) and the cardo (north–south-oriented street) lined by a partially restored Corinthian colonnade.
A 12 m high triumphal arch, called the Arch of Trajan was partially restored in 1900. A 3,500-seat theater is in good condition and is used for contemporary productions. The other key buildings include four thermae, a library, and a basilica. The Capitoline Temple is the same size as the Pantheon in Rome.
The Library at Timgad is 81 by 77 feet and shows the presence of a fully developed library system in this Roman city, indicating a high standard of learning and culture.
Parc des Aurès avec les établissements oasiens des gorges du Rhoufi et d’El Kantara (30/12/2002). The Aurès is bounded to the west by the great Batna depression to the east by the valley of the El Arab wadi. Its peaks culminate in the north east at over 2000 m.
A very varied vegetation: oaks in the north, cedar trees crown the great anticlines, Aleppo pines and phenic junipers on the south and palm groves in the bottom of the valleys with.
Traditional Berber society which has preserved its language, its customs and its terraced habitat. Aurès has long been a closed world – protected by its high walls and little open valleys.
Crowded villages on the slopes and terraces supported by small stone walls testify to an ancient human settlement well adapted to mountain environments.
• Ichoukkane 17 km from Timgad; ruins of an old Berber city, circular tombs, beautiful landscapes of the Boudricen and Kharouben djebels.
• Parc de Belezma: large mountain range with 2138m peaks above the 1000m high peripheral plains located north of Aurès, it. Has the largest cedar grove in Algeria (8,000 ha).
• Menaa: typical Aures village where nature and houses merge.
• Merouana: stronghold of the Roman and Byzantine defensive system.
• El Kantara village and palm grove: a very long rocky ridge cut by the wadi.
• Arris: capital of the Aurès massif. Irrigated and storied gardens.
• Valley of the Abdi wadi and the Guelaa of Iguelfen.
• Valley of the El Abiod wadi: famous deep canyon with a ribbon of palm groves in the bottom.
M’ZAB VALLEY
400,000 people make their home in the M’Zab Valley. M’Zab Valley is a pentapolis of five towns, including Ghardaia, the defacto capital. The M’Zab Valley is 600 km south of Algiers in the Sahara Desert.
Played the fictional planet of Tatooine, Luke Skywalker’s home in Star Wars.
This area was settled in the 11th century by the Mozabites, a Muslim Ibadi (different than Sunni and Shiite) sect of non-Arabic Muslims. They created five separate fortified towns on rocky hills protecting them from nomadic groups. All have a mosque at the highest point with the minaret serving as a watch tower. Houses then were constructed in concentric circles, extending out from the mosque. This design is also used to create a coherent, orderly, and equitable environment for all inhabitants with each house being approximately similar in size. A market place serves as the center of each village. Within the village walls, there are no automobiles, just winding and hilly stone paths and alleys. Walls formed a citadel of each village. Center of date production.
Very conservative and traditional, it is physically isolated in the desert and has managed to maintain their cultures and mores. When entering each of the five walled villages, visitors are required to take a local guide with a car in addition to your regular guide. They do not want you to explore independently. A sign was posted in each village dictating the rules: no shorts, no smoking, and depart before sunset, and no pictures of people. M’Zab Valley is not focused on mass tourism. Few tourists and little infrastructure to handle more.
The women of Ghardaia dressed in a haik, a head to toe wool wrap that only exposes a single eye.
Heavily policed Several years ago there was violence and fighting between the Berber and Arab people of the regions. mosques were simple, and modest. unadorned.
cemeteries graves austere – no names on the graves, just some stones piled up on top of each other. On top of the graves, rested earthenware jugs, some broken. The pottery is placed on top by loved ones so they are able to recognize their relatives’ graves.
Ibrahim local guide
Note that the hotel options for tourists are all guest houses are very isolated and located away from the villages with nothing around them.
Ghardaia. A UNESCO listed city (Ghardaia Berber Architecture and Culture) where the desert starts with its marvellous Mzab architecture and its art. – the fantasy architecture of the M’zab Valley, Berber Castle .
Les oasis à foggaras et les ksour du Grand Erg Occidental (30/12/2002)
Oued souf (30/12/2002)
El Goléa oasis
TASSILI N’AJJER
Tassili n’Ajjer (“Plateau of the Rivers”) has one of the most important groupings of prehistoric cave art in the world. A national park with an area of over 72,000 km2 in the Sahara on a vast plateau in south-east Algeria at the borders of Libya, Niger and Mali. World Heritage Site list in 1982.
Prehistoric art date to the early Neolithic era at the end of the last glacial period during which the Sahara was a habitable savanna rather than the current desert, the earliest pieces of art are assumed to be 12,000 years old. The vast majority date to the 9th and 10th millennia BP or younger, Among the 15,000 engravings so far identified depicted are large wild animals including antelopes and crocodiles, cattle herds and humans that engage in activities such as hunting and dancing. According to UNESCO, “The exceptional density of paintings and engravings make Tassili world famous.
The park has geological formations of rock forests, which comprises eroded sandstone, resembles a strange lunar landscape.
The range is composed largely of sandstone. 300 natural rock arches.
Fungoid rock art. Proof of the relationship between humans and psychedelics in the ancient populations of the Sahara, Used psilocybin mushrooms as part of its religious ritual life, citing rock paintings showing persons holding mushroom-like objects in their hands, as well as mushrooms growing from their bodies. The painting that best backs the mushroom hypothesis is the Tassili mushroom man Matalem-Amazar where the body of the represented shaman is covered with mushrooms.