Algiers, north Africa's white lady

Isn't is strange that a gigantic country with some of the most beautiful coastline on Earth, a luminous hinterland of mountains vast and deserts idle, crowned with the most alluring capital city I know, should be just three hours from London and almost unvisited by travellers?

We used to go: well-to-do Victorians loved wintering in Algeria. But modernity has been cruel to this great gorgeous land, and even by the standards of war-torn Africa, Algeria's is an awful story. We associate it with the violent end of French colonialism, civil war in the 90s that cost up to 200,000 lives, and sporadic terror attacks. But this is a gross underestimation of a magical place, and a delightful and beguiling people.

With its Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, Barbary pirate and French colonial heritage, Algeria has a hoard to dazzle any enthusiast of culture, architecture, literature, art, design, ornithology, botany or geography. I went, apprehensively, because I was following migrating swallows from Cape Town to Wales. At the airport, they impounded my binoculars – unwelcome because of "security". Policemen toted Kalashnikovs. "Security!" everyone said, cheerfully. "Bon courage!"

As it turned out, I felt as safe there as anywhere in Africa, and had the pleasure of discovering a world beyond guidebooks. I made lucky decisions: with my money and my visa running out, I resolved to throw all that remained of both at Algiers – "Alger la blanche" (Algiers the white). I loved it all: the foaming purple bougainvillea; the scents of mimosa, pine, spice and coffee; the roads floating through hillsides above the great sea; the Ottoman palaces; the scent of grilling lamb in the warren of the casbah; the harbour front with its snowy colonial buildings endlessly colonnaded (the old post office looks like a palace of ice-cream; no wonder Le Corbusier was in awe of Algiers) and the rich dark cafes… I wanted never to leave.

The casbah is a Unesco world heritage site, a burnt umber miracle, sweet with the song of goldfinches. The neo-Byzantine cathedral of Notre Dame D'Afrique is remarkable: the inscription within, "Our Lady of Africa, pray for us and the muslims", is a hopeful sentiment.

In the casbah, older cafe owners will tell you how they survived French paratroopers. ("We lived in the walls", one said. "In the walls, you understand?") The Great Mosque of Algiers is one of the few remaining examples of Almoravid architecture, with a 14th-century minaret. Just inland from the port, off the main street, is where most of the restaurants are. Follow your nose: mine led me to the most delicious lamb chops I have ever eaten – and as a Welshman I take chops seriously. And Algerian coffee is superb. The Martyrs' Monument is a strange and rather awful triple-pillared concrete structure. It looks like what it is – an outraged howl of mourning raised to the sky.

All Algiers goes down to the seafront to relax: here are lovely spaces in which to meet the locals (Algerians treasure their few visitors) and to wonder at the shattered piles of fishermen's houses below the sea wall, where people lived just above the waves.

My other good decision was to stay at the expensive but unforgettable El Djazair hotel, popularly known by its former title, the St George. The new wing is excellent. Crucially, the efficient management will fax you a confirmation of your reservation, which you will need for your visa if you go independently. (The Algerian embassy issues visas on the 21st of each month.) Once in Algeria, you are at liberty to travel where you will.

If God were to grant Algeria an overdue break, and lift her out of the grasping claws of President Bouteflika's clique and beyond the fists of its tiny extremist minority, Algiers would be the San Francisco of the region, gateway to deserts, mountains and coasts beyond reckoning. (Reputable companies offer tours to Tamanrasset, the Touareg capital of the Sahara.) In the spring the Kabylia region, in the north-east, is said to be like paradise. The coastal town of Tipaza, west of Algiers, is so beautiful that French writer Albert Camus said it taught him the meaning of glory – love without limit.

As it is, Algeria has the clearest light I have ever seen, and she needs you – to see her, to appreciate her and, in beginning to know her, to help her out of the shadows.

BY:SN213

Source : Horatio Clare The Guardian, Saturday 4 September 2010

ANNABA PHOTOGRAPHY

Annaba:
Buttressed on one stimulating past to the prehistoric times and sertified by objects of the paleolithic and vestiges of the Neolithic overdrafts in the surroundings of Bouhamra ,in the Edough ,and on the sides of Fazzara lake,the region of Annaba (bône) hugged history since the 3rd millennium before the Christian era with the assurance of the sivilization numide. 

Travel To Discover

Tourism is the act of traveling into or browse for fun, a place other than where it normally lives, which may involve the use of an overnight stay at a hotel and possibly the book title transport.Initially attached to leisure and health, tourism now also encompasses all economic activities in which the person uses during an unusual move (transport, hotels, restaurants, bars, etc.).It may be, for example, a business trip (this is called "business tourism") or a religious pilgrimage ("cultural tourism") or to travel in order to have sex with indigenous ("sex tourism"). One can also seek treatment in another country than where you live, it is called medical tourism.Practicing tourism also allows pausing in his schedule utility imposed by the need to earn a living time.Tourists are generally interested in culture or landscapes he visits. This practice has long been the preserve of the wealthy who could afford to travel, to see the remarkable buildings, works of art or taste other cuisines.

Discovering the mysteries and wonders of Pompeii

In the province of Naples, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius Pompei covers an area of ​​12 square kilometers. with about 26,000 inhabitants. It is a modern reality with its tourist facilities, hotels, campgrounds, restaurants, pizzerias, bars, pubs and several shops. It is a cosmopolitan city, a major destination for tourism in Italy and abroad. Many of these tourists stay in the city not only visit, but also use it as a base for their trips, and close to many attractions, both in hand with your vehicle on public transport. In the recent past, Pompeii is twinned with the towns of Latiano in Puglia, Kjongiu (South Korea), Tarragona (Spain) and Xi'an (China). Pompeii rises to the rank of cities on January 9, 2004 The main feature that makes it unique, is to join a name of two cities. 

This ancient pagan buried about six meters of ash and lapilli following an eruption of Vesuvius, which took place in August 79 AD when many were dead. In the sixteenth century was discovered almost by accident during the construction of an aqueduct and the proof of this is a plaque placed near Port Nocera. Thank you to a particular technique developed by Fiorelli, today we can see the positions in which the Pompeians perished during the eruption. He invented a method to obtain castings, leaching liquid plaster into the void left by the now defunct organizations, these casts, is a tragic testimony to the disaster. In addition, many results of frescoes, pottery, furniture and various tools help us to understand the habits and customs of ancient Pompeii, but a visit to the archaeological site, we could spend an amazing emotions. 

ImageThe new Pompeii, Christian, was born thanks to Blessed Bartolo Longo. Pugliese original lawyer who in 1872 was tasked by the Countess Marianna De Fusco to administer his property in the Valley of Pompeii. The appearance of Madonna Bartolo Longo pushed to build, among many difficulties and with little money, shelter, develop a city around it. One of the obstacles that have been found there in some neighboring countries, reluctant to cede part of its territory to the new reality born "the new Pompeii." Unfortunately for the arrival of his death, October 5, 1926, Bartolo Longo was not able to witness the birth of the new municipalities that took place on March 29, 1928, thank you to all'interessamento Brother Adriano has the merit to pursue with tenacity, the project undertaken by the blessed. 

Pompeii World Heritage Site UNESCO Image 

By Decree 1997 of Pompeii was included among the sites that are considered World Heritage by UNESCO. 

The Committee decided to include this field on the basis of cultural criteria whereas the extraordinary in the city of Pompeii and surrounding areas, buried dall'eruzione of Vesuvius in 79 d. C., are a living testimony and society and daily life in a time of the past and no equivalent anywhere in the world.

By :SN213

Source: http://www.pompeiturismo.it/ 

Tikjda is the white pearl Algerian mountains

Tikjda is a tourist site located east of the province of Bouira, 1475m above sea level in the heart of the mountain range and Djurdjuran adminsitratif headquarters of the National Park and UNESCO Biosphere of the same name. Tikjda, which in the 1990s became a common, is known nationally and even some international scale except foreign residents in Algeria. 

Tikjda is the starting point for many scenic journeys north overlooking the Massif Central of Kabylie where nesting eagle nests near a thousand Berber villages, and south of the Kabylia and the Summam Bibans, rich fertile plains of Kabyle country near Highlands. Endless pastoral paths allow high mountains to move from one massif to another, you can join Tala Guilef north of the western chain Djurdjuran the Haïzer and discover endemic cedar forests or in isolated clumps high altitude (beyond 2000m) or in forests such as those of Tigounatine, Tiwlalt or later, the famous forest at Ouabanes (cedar / channels / maple / poplar / larch whose colors are of those of the north Indian summer -américain) headquarters nombreues legends and accounts Kabyle. Since Tikjda can also join Tamda Goulmin (the Lake), a kind of sick, or lake, altitude quite special. 
Finally, Tikjda offers the most beautiful views on the headlights peaks Djurdjuran: Pyramid Tamgout Amghor Lalla Khlidja (better known as the "Lalla Khedidja", 2308m) and Aqerru Timedwin, dizzying mountain bare lunar landscapes or many natural ponds and deep "holes" are Picts its peak or nestle water and say "eternal" (hence the name of Timedwin) ice, fueling countless springs that flow continuously from both sides of its slopes. 

Regarding the reception facilities, the tourist site consists of two units: Tikjda and Djurdjuran. The first includes a hotel two blocks of a hundred rooms, a restaurant with 150 seats, a cafeteria with 2 living rooms with 80 seats and 4 terraces with 250 seats. As for sports equipment, they are many and varied: 2 gyms, 2 tennis, one handset, the other bowls, one sauna, one treatment room, 60 mountain bike (mountain bikes) for rent and various games: dominoes, monopoly, scrabble, chess ?? all at a bargain price and scope guests. As for Djurdjuran unit, facilities boil down to a 100-seat restaurant, a cafeteria, an inn with 20 rooms and a pool. 

By : SN213
Sources and links:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikjda
http://www.lemague.net/dyn/spip.php?article3303

Tipaza : Joint meeting between history and modernity

Former Punic counter Tipasa was occupied by Rome and became a Roman colony in the 2nd century. Tipasa was a strategic base for the conquest of the kingdoms Mauritanians and later became one of the most important Christian North African strongholds. 


The site includes a unique set of Phoenician, Roman, early Christian and Byzantine as well as indigenous monuments such as the Royal Mausoleum of Mauretania. The mausoleum of the Roman town, located west of the city, was built in the 5th century. This is one of the most interesting sites in the city and there now several sarcophagi. The forum is well preserved. This is one of the oldest parts of the site and it is from there that come mosaics displayed at the museum Tipasa. 

FACTORY GARUM 

Condiment popular in the ancient world, garum result of maceration in salt fish waste and other viscera, salt having the effect of preventing putrefaction. It was made in deep tanks and then stored in large jars visible in the foreground. 

MOSAIC OF GREAT BASILICA 

It recognizes the two main Christian symbols, the Chi-Rho (monogram of Christ) and fish. It covered a mensa table funerary feasts on which the faithful celebrated the days birthdays, the memory of the martyrs and saints. Evidenced by inclusion in Deo Chrisme pax and concordia sit convivio nostro, which means. "By God, our banquet takes place in peace and harmony" (Tipaza, Archaeological Museum) 



JOIN FUNERAL 

This stone, visible in one of two burial 
Tipasa, features the formula utere fe / ix (Uses of it to be happy) Who overcomes the chrism, or monogram of Christ, one of the first symbols of the Christian faith with the fish. It is formed from the first two letters 
the name "Christ" in Greek (Christos), X (chi) and p (rho). 
In the early fourth century, Emperor Constantine did embroidery on his standard, and after the Edict of Milan (313) and 
Christianization of the Roman Empire, this representation became the Christian symbol par excellence and spread throughout North Africa. 



VILLA OF FRESCOS 

Not far from the cardo, by the sea, a sumptuous villa owned private baths and a solarium, terrace facing the sea. Fragments of wall revealed traces of painted plaster, hence the name given to this house witness the prosperity of Tipasa port served by its favorable in its role as the mouth of a dense road network and agricultural wealth of the hinterland. 


CARDO MAXIMUS 

Like all Roman cities, Tipasa had two main streets decumanus maximus and cardo maximus. The first was from west to east, between two fortified gates, and was a stretch of road that connected Icosium and Caesarea (Algiers). The carda cut it right in the middle of the city angle. This paved path extends to the sea. 



Nymph 

This monumental fountain dedicated to the nymphs was connected to the main water supply of the city. L: water provided a magnificent spectacle, dripping cascading down the steps, between the columns of bluish marble, into the lower basins 





On the shores of the Mediterranean, Tipasa ancient Punic trading conquered by Rome and turned into a strategic base for the conquest of the kingdoms of Mauritania. It includes a unique set of Phoenician, Roman, early Christian and Byzantine side by side with indigenous monuments such as Kbor er Roumia, the great royal mausoleum of Mauritania.

By:SN213
Source : algeriantourism