From autumn 2001 through Summer 2002 we lived in Algeria. More exactly in
its capital Algiers. Algiers is a fairly large city with well over 2 million
inhabitants.
The
city of Algiers sits at a bay overlooking the beautiful Mediterranean. The old
town, the Casbah, used to be home to sea pirates. It's a labyrinth of tiny
streets climbing the hill overlooking the port.
But
Algiers also is a city with beautiful avenues and architecture reminiscent of
its long French influence. The buildings may need some refreshing but have lost
nothing from their former glory.
Algeria is a beautiful country with a rich historical and cultural heritage and
a tremendous variety in its geography (sea, plains, mountains, deserts).
Tipasa
for example is located about 50km west of Algiers. It's a seaside resort with
beautiful beaches of white sand and turquoise water against a hilly background.
It even featured a Club Med in the '70's!
Tipasa has one of the better Roman ruins along the Mediterranean Sea. It was
originally a Phoenician trading post, but it became a Roman colony in the 2nd
century AD. Later it became one of the most important Christian settlements in
Northern Africa. With the coming of the Vandals and their Arian Christianity in
430, most of the inhabitants fled to Spain. With the coming of the Arabs in the
7th century, there was so little left that they called the place Tefassad,
meaning "badly damaged".(©Copyright CiAS Miftah-Shamali Algeria
(http://i-cias.com/m.s/algeria/). Tipasa has also been recognized as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site" in 1982, one of only 830 such properties across
the world.
The main road, 14 meters wide, has about 200 meters preserved. It used to link
Tipasa with Cherchell, 14 km further to the west
This must have been one of the more exquisite shopping streets of its era 2000
years ago when you could stroll under the arches and check the wares in the
stores lined along this street that leads down to the seafront. Carpe Diem,
the Romans truly knew how to enjoy life!
Only a few kilometers away from Tipasa on a hilltop, 260m above sea level,
overlooking the region, stands the impressive Mausoleum of the Royal Family of
Mauritania. It is 32 meters high, 61 meters diameter and contains 80'000 cubic
meter of stone blocks. It was built for King Juba II and his wife Cleopatra
Selena, daughter of the famous Cleopatra of Egypt. Juba II reigned from 25 BC to
23 AD over Mauritania which had its capital in Iol (Cherchell). Jubba II was of
Berber origin and the Kingdom of Mauritania covered Morocco and Algeria.
