- Tipasa, Djemela & Timgad: three of North Africa’s most exceptional Roman sites, often void of tourists, let alone groups.
- Charming city of Algiers, Alger La Blanche, with its nineteenth and early twentieth-century European architecture and authentic Casbah.
- Outstanding selection of mosaics in museums throughout.
- Three nights in Constantine, Algeria’s most alluring city.
INTRODUCTION
Lambressa, Algeria.
Algeria is at the heart of any understanding of North Africa, or indeed of our modern world. The fearsome eight-year long battle for its independence stands beside the Vietnam War and Suez as one of the watersheds of late twentieth century realpolitik, while the decade-long Algerian emergency of the 1990’s increasingly reads like a preface to what is now happening in Egypt and Syria. Fascinating though this recent history is, especially when viewed through a largely intact if crumbling backdrop of French colonial architecture, it is the aesthetic lodestone of the ruins built by the armies of Rome that lures the traveller into the Algerian hinterland.
The magnificently complete city ruins of Djemela and Timgad are very different in mood, though not in culture. One was built on the edge of the Kabyle mountains, the other on the margin of the arid steppe, though both were established as colonies for discharged veterans of the III Augusta Legion planted into the Berber landscape. They stand together as incontrovertible tactile proof of the Golden Age of the Roman Empire. For these are not Imperial capitals designed to dazzle the world but provincial cities built solely for the use of their citizens.
That these are the two best preserved out of the six hundred that once stood proudly throughout the breadth of Roman North Africa is a matter of chance, though nurtured by their romantic isolation. But this allows their nearly intact libraries, fountains, their painterly profusion of triumphal arches, choice of market squares, their theatres, baths, mosaics, processional ways and squares to speak to us in a very direct and moving way. Nothing can quite match this tangible eloquence of carved stone, though the little Roman mountain hamlet of Tiddis, the ruins of Hippo that were watched over by St Augustine and the coastal ruins of Tipasa, so beloved by Camus, all have their own haunting and beguiling charm.
To give variety to our antique palette we have added walks through the vibrant, ever fascinating cities of Algiers, Constantine and Annaba. Evening talks and discussions will open up windows into Carthage and Berbers, French Orientalist artists and writers, Islam and Arabs, Barbary Corsairs and travellers ancient and modern.
The magnificently complete city ruins of Djemela and Timgad are very different in mood, though not in culture. One was built on the edge of the Kabyle mountains, the other on the margin of the arid steppe, though both were established as colonies for discharged veterans of the III Augusta Legion planted into the Berber landscape. They stand together as incontrovertible tactile proof of the Golden Age of the Roman Empire. For these are not Imperial capitals designed to dazzle the world but provincial cities built solely for the use of their citizens.
That these are the two best preserved out of the six hundred that once stood proudly throughout the breadth of Roman North Africa is a matter of chance, though nurtured by their romantic isolation. But this allows their nearly intact libraries, fountains, their painterly profusion of triumphal arches, choice of market squares, their theatres, baths, mosaics, processional ways and squares to speak to us in a very direct and moving way. Nothing can quite match this tangible eloquence of carved stone, though the little Roman mountain hamlet of Tiddis, the ruins of Hippo that were watched over by St Augustine and the coastal ruins of Tipasa, so beloved by Camus, all have their own haunting and beguiling charm.
To give variety to our antique palette we have added walks through the vibrant, ever fascinating cities of Algiers, Constantine and Annaba. Evening talks and discussions will open up windows into Carthage and Berbers, French Orientalist artists and writers, Islam and Arabs, Barbary Corsairs and travellers ancient and modern.
ITINERARY
DAY 1
This is the itinerary for 2015. To see the itinerary for 2014, please click here.
London to Algiers. Fly at c. 8.40am (British Airways) from London Gatwick for the 21/2 hour flight to Algiers. Lunch at the hotel before a walking tour of Algiers revealing the city’s beautiful architecture including the Grande Poste and the whitewashed Rue Didouche Mourad with brilliant blue balconies and intricate stucco work, a testament to the city’s colonial history. We then visit the city’s most prominent landmark, Martyrs’ Monument, commemorating Algerian resistance fighters. First of three nights in Algiers.
London to Algiers. Fly at c. 8.40am (British Airways) from London Gatwick for the 21/2 hour flight to Algiers. Lunch at the hotel before a walking tour of Algiers revealing the city’s beautiful architecture including the Grande Poste and the whitewashed Rue Didouche Mourad with brilliant blue balconies and intricate stucco work, a testament to the city’s colonial history. We then visit the city’s most prominent landmark, Martyrs’ Monument, commemorating Algerian resistance fighters. First of three nights in Algiers.
DAY 2
Tipasa, Cherchell. Drive west to the picturesque Roman site of Tipasa. Stop en route at the immense circular Numidian Tomb with spectacular views of the surrounding countryside and coast. Visit the recently renovated Cherchell archaeological museum before lunch in Tipasa followed by a full afternoon exploring one of North Africa’s most picturesque Roman sites. Founded by the Phoenicians and located on the shores of the Mediterranean, the town was once a flourishing commercial centre. Overnight Algiers.
DAY 3
Algiers. Morning walk through the narrow and colourful alleys of the city’s Casbah, surely the most authentic in North Africa. After lunch in the old port visit the National Museum of Antiquities and the Bardo Museum before a reception in the British Embassy, itself a 19th-century French villa (subject to last-minute cancellation). Overnight Algiers.
DAY 4
Djemela. Early flight to the town of Setif. Visit the museum at Djemela (Curculum) with its exceptional display of Roman mosaics and artefacts from the surrounding area. Lunch on-site before an afternoon spent at the unesco World Heritage site of Djemela, a remarkably well preserved Roman town originally established as a colony of soldiers. Continue to Constantine for the first of three nights.
DAY 5
Constantine, Tiddis. The picturesque City of Bridges (Constantine) sits high above the Rhumel Gorge and makes for a fascinating walking tour (some bridges may not be suitable for vertigo suffers) which includes impressive colonial architecture, the Palace of Ahmed Bey and the Constantine Museum. The afternoon is spent visiting the concentrated site of Tiddis (Castellum Tiditanorum) and the curious tomb of Quintus Lollius Urbicus, the Governor of Britain under the emperor Antoninus Pius. Return to Constantine for dinner in the infamous Cirta Hotel. Overnight Constantine.
DAY 6
Timgad, Lambaesis. An early start to the immense site of Timgad (Colonia Marciana Trajana Thamugas), its scale and state of preservation making it one of the most impressive Roman sites to be found anywhere. A short drive away are the interesting and rare ruins of the headquarters of the 3rd August Legion, Lambaesis. Lunch in Batna. Visit also the Numidian Tomb, similar to that in Tipasa but earlier. Final night in Constantine.
DAY 7
Guelma, Annaba. Visit the Roman theatre of Guelma, wonderfully restored by the French in 1908. A feature is the selection of fine original statues. After lunch drive to ancient city of Annaba, formerly Hippo Regius. Founded by the Phoenicians and developed by the Romans, Annaba became an important centre for Christianity. St Augustine, the most important theologian of the western Church was bishop here ad c.395–430. First of two nights in Annaba.
DAY 8
Annaba. Morning walk along the Cours de la Révolution observing the city’s colonial architecture and sea-side atmosphere. Visit the Basilica of St Augustine, Annaba’s most prominent landmark, completed in 1881. After lunch continue to the ruins of Hippo Regius and the archaeological museum, home to some impressive mosaics. Overnight Annaba.
DAY 9
Fly from Annaba to Algiers with Air Algerie to connect with the British Airways flight to London, arriving Gatwick c. 2.00pm.
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