Constantine, Algeria
Constantine (Arabic: قسنطينة Qusanṭīnah, Berber languages: ⵇⵙⴻⵏⵟⵉⵏⴰ), also spelled Qacentina[3] or Kasantina, is the capital
of Constantine Province in north-eastern Algeria. During Roman times it was called Cirta and was renamed "Constantina" in honour of
emperor Constantine the Great. It was the capital of the same-named French département until 1962. Slightly inland, it is about 80
kilometres (50 miles) from the Mediterranean coast, on the banks of the Rhumel river.
Regarded as the capital of eastern Algeria and the centre of its region, Constantine has a population of 448,374 (938,475 with the
agglomeration), making it the third largest city in the country after Algiers and Oran. There are museums and important historical sites
around the city.
It is often referred to as the "City of Bridges" due to the numerous picturesque bridges connecting the mountains the city is built on.
Constantine was named the Arab Capital of Culture in 2015.
History
Ancient history
The city was originally created by the Phoenicians, who called it Sewa (royal city). Later it was renamed Cirta, by the Numidian
king Syphax, who turned it into his capital. The city was taken over by Numidia, the country of the Berber people, after the Phoenicians
were defeated by Rome in the Third Punic War. In 112 BC the city was occupied by Jugurthawho defeated his half-brother Adherbal.
The city later served as the base for Roman generals Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus and Gaius Marius in their war against
Jugurtha. Later, with the removal of King Juba I and the remaining supporters of Pompey in Africa (c. 46), Julius Caesar gave special
rights to the citizens of Cirta, now known as Colonia Sittlanorum.
In 311, during the civil war between emperor Maxentius and usurper Domitius Alexander (a former governor of Africa), the city was
destroyed. Rebuilt in 313, it was subsequently named after emperor Constantine the Great, who had defeated Maxentius. Captured by
the Vandals in 432, Constantine returned to the Byzantine Exarchate of Africa (i.e. North Africa) from 534 to 697. It was conquered by
the Arabs in the 8th century, receiving the name of Qacentina.
Modern history
The city recovered in the 12th century and under Almohad and Hafsid rule it was again a prosperous market, with links
to Pisa, Genoa and Venice. Since 1529 it was intermittently part of Ottoman Empire, ruled by a Turkish bey (governor) subordinate to
the dey of Algiers. Salah Bey, who ruled the city in 1770–1792, greatly embellished it and built much of the Muslim architecture still
visible today.
In 1826 the last bey, Ahmed Bey ben Mohamed Chérif, became the new head of state. He led a fierce resistance against French forces,
which had invaded Algeria four years later. By 13 October 1837, the territory was captured by France, and from 1848 on until 1962 it
was an integral part of the French motherland and centre of the Constantine Département. Under the French, Muslim anti-Jewish riots in
Constantine in 1934 killed 34 Jews.[6]
In World War II, during the campaign in North Africa (1942–43), Allied forces used Constantine and the nearby city of Sétif as
operational bases.
In 1880, while working in the military hospital in Constantine, Algeria, Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran discovered that the cause
of malaria is a protozoan, after observing the parasites in a blood smear taken from a soldier who had just died of malaria.[7] For this, he
received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.[7] This was the first time that protozoa were shown to be a cause of disease.
His work helped inspire researchers and veterinarians today to try to find a cure for malaria in animals.[7]
In 11th century, Banu Hilal, an Arab tribe living between Nile and Red Sea, settled in Tunisia, Tripolitania (western Libya)
and Constantinois (eastern Algeria) which was Constantine party.
The City of Bridges
The topography of the city is unique and it determines the need for bridges. At the end of the 19th century, Guy de Maupassant wrote:
"Eight bridges used to cross this ravine. Six of these bridges are in ruins today." Today the most important bridges are:
Sidi M'Cid Bridge (1912), a suspension bridge with a length of 168m,
El-Kantara bridge which leads toward north,
Sidi Rached bridge (1912), a long viaduct of 447ms and 27 arches, designed by Paul Séjourné,
Devil's bridge, a tiny beam bridge,
Falls bridge, formed by a series of arches on top of a waterfall,
Perregaux footbridge (1925), a suspension bridge,
Salah Bey Bridge (Trans-Rhummel viaduct, 2014), the first cable-stayed bridge in Constantine, designed
by Dissing+Weitling architecture,
Meddjez Dechiche Bridge
Constantine, Algeria 1840
Constantine, Algeria 2018
