Le site de Djamila

Béjaia

ex-Bougie

In Libyco-berber : Vaga (les ronces),
in roman : Saldae
in Kabyle : Vgaieth
in french : Bougie
in arabic : Béjaia

Population : 849.000 inhabitants

Small towns or villages close of Béjaia :
Camp Inferieur, Ihaddadem, Ibouhathmane, Azib Aboudaou, Adrar Farnou, Tala el Kseur, Ikoubab, Mellala, N'Ait Hamouda, Talendjast, Beni Embarek, Taourirt, El Hadabbab, Issoummar, Tagma.

Béjaia was the capital of the Hammadites who were to give up their mountain capital Kalaâ Beni-Hammad to settel on these open on the world shores.

In 1067, En Nasser gave it the name of Naciria, then his son El Mansour made of it his political and cultural capital into 1090.

Today, place head of the department (Wilaya) of Valley of Soummam. It offers to its visitors of many places of interest, the museum which, in addition to its section antiquity, has a department of paintings, a significant collection of birds and insects of Africa, a room of reading of the library arranged in an old arched cistern and a mosaic which decorates the hall of the Town hall.

For the walks, to assemble in Yemma Gouraya 660 m of altitude, where is a fort built by the Spaniards, it east 14 km of sinuous road, while passing by the Peak of the Monkeys.
The road of the Cape Carbon passes by a wood of pines and olive-trees and circumvents Gouraya, where a tunnel dug in the rock leads to a marvellous site of cliff and sea. A path goes down until the floods to go up at the top of the course to 220 m with the highest headlight of the Mediterranean.
Always in the west, a path circumvents cliff towards a famous site: the handle of Ayguades where had unloaded the Spaniards into 1507. It is the place of meeting of the young people for picnics, bathes in papered bay of rollers.
Then, towards the Cape Sigli (40 km) until Azzefoun a wild beauty marks the circuit. In Cape Sigli, the area is famous for its abundance of underwater fauna.
The Road of Cêdres passes by Toudja (22 km) - fed out of drinking water by a Roman aqueduct.
Beyond that, it is the cornice: Tichy is luxurious the appendix-holidays of Béjaia, one arrives at Aokas and Souk el Tenine.
Djebel Babor, classified national park whose peaks reach 2004 m, to 15 km of the coast, and the Throats of Kherrata deserve a stop.
Towards the South, the Valley of Soummam, between Djurdjura and Babors, is bordered of cities (Wadi Amizour, El Kseur, Sidi-Aich, Seddouk, Ighzer-Amokrane, Akbou, Tazmalt, Ighil-Ali, and Beni-Mansour). The valley is agricultural, but the historic sites do not miss. Many Roman ruins are on the level of El Kseur and Oued Amizour, in Seddouk, one will find there fall it from Sheik Bel Haddad, Ifri, the village which had accomodated the Congress of Soummam, not far from Akbou, the thermal spa Sidi Yahia, and more in the south, close to Ighil Ali, native village of the family of Taos, Ferhat Amrouche, Kelaâ Beni Hemmad.

Béjaia is a very beautiful city, it is located between the sea and the mountain and has the charm of the small Italian towns of fishermen. The streets are narrow and climbing.

The ranges are superb, Tichy, amongst other things, within a wild framework offers relieving and quietude.

The candle was born in Bougie : Bougie, the francized shape of Arabic Béjaia, has its name of that of a Berber tribe which occupied, a time, the Saldae antique. It produced a wax of a great quality, that Europe imported with large expenses. The candle of grease or wax appears at the beginning of the II millenium, but lighting will not progress before the Middle Ages. In XIème century, Europe still lights with the oil lamp and with small the tallow candle. Three century later, the " candle of Bougie " crosses the Mediterranean, like a product of luxury.

Links :

Le petit village de Thavlasth (Béjaia)

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Thursday, February 24, 2000 10:33 AM