Algeria for Visitors

________________________________________

Unlike what many people believe, most of Sahara is not soft sand dunes only broken by a thriving oasis with a little blue lake in the centre. It is rocks and pebbles for thousands and thousands of miles,- it doesn't make as good photos as the sand dunes, so therefore less attention. When however, Sahara becomes real endless sand dunes, this is a specific natural phenomenon called erg. The Grand Erg Occidental is the second largest of the two dominating ergs of Algeria (there are several, altogether) , and as there is no way any human life could be sustained here, no villages are found inside it, no roads crossing through it. The experience of it, will be from the fringe, most of the time from a distance, other times it will be feasible to make long enough walks into it, to really get feeling of solitude and inferiority compared to the powers of nature. Of the cities that makes excursions into the erg possible, Taghit, Beni bes, Timimoun, and El Golea are counted for being among the most beautiful oases of Algeria.

Djemila. Great Roman ruins

___________________________

With Djemila, Algeria is a strong contendor of having the greatest Roman ruins of North Africa. While the ruin area in itself is not one of the largest, it is often well preserved, and the adjoining museum, is virutally packed with excellent mosaics,- mosaics that so often else have been transported to national museums far away. Altogether, Djemila stands out as one of the best preserved Roman ruins of North Africa. Djemila is the modern name to ancient Cuicul, a military garrison, that was founded in the 1st century AD that should exploit and control the rich surrounding agricultural areas. The city has two forums, and a theatre, capacity of 3,000, that was put outside the city walls, simply because the terreain where the city is located was so limited. A baptistry and a basilica was added to Cuicul in the 4th century. There can have been as many as 20,000 people living here at the most, in the 3rd century. Cuicul was abandoned in the 5th century. Excavations began in 1909. Entrance at the site passes the museum, that simply is too small for all it contains. Three rooms are loaded, mosaics as mentioned, as well as marble statues, and things like oil lamps and items for cooking. Of the buildings around Djemila that needs an explanation, there

Go To Page: 1 2