Our guide for the next ten days will be Ridwane and he speaks excellent English and is obviously someone who has been involved as a guide for quite some time. We departed Algiers at 08:00 and faced a 350 km drive to Djemila but to give the driver and us a rest, we took a drinks break at Bouira.
For a fair proportion of this drive along the main eastern freeway we were travelling through extensive grain growing areas with most barley crops already harvested and the wheat crops almost ready. There has been good rainfall this year and the grain yield is likely to be near record levels.
It seems unexpected that in the middle of farming land there will suddenly be a housing development. These new communities are typically made up of twenty or so eight storey high rise buildings surrounded by wheat fields.
At El Eulma we left the main expressway and drove about forty kilometres to the ruins of the Roman town at Djemila.
Djemila, (meaning beautiful) was formerly called Cuicul and is a location where some of the best preserved Roman ruins in North Africa are to be found.
In 1982 Djemila became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In the first century AD under the name of Cuicul the city was built 900 m above sea level as a Roman military garrison. It is situated in the province of Numidia on a narrow triangular plateau at the confluence of two rivers. The city was originally populated by a colony of Roman soldiers from Italy and then grew to become a major trading market centre. The prosperity of the city was principally due to the rich surrounding land producing cereals, olives and other farm produce.
Cuicul’s builders followed a standard plan with a forum at the intersection of two main streets, Cardo Maximus and Decumanus Maximus.
We commenced our visit to Cuicul at the museum. The township was renamed Djemila after the Muslims dominated the region in the post 7th century period.
The museum has the best collection of large mosaic tiled areas we’ve seen anywhere. The museum has six metre high mosaics around most of the walls that extend in a ‘U’ shape for about 50 m.
Mosaics & model of archeological site, Museum, Djemila
There are many marble statues and busts of prominent Romans and their gods including Hercules, Emperor Septimius and his Syrian wife Julia, Bacchus and Jupiter. The collection of other artefacts recovered from the Djemila site was most impressive and included pottery, glassware, surgical instruments, coins and carved ivory including a six-sided die.
Mosaics, Museum, Djemila
Our walking tour of the actual site took about three hours and we started in the upper Christian centre. Christianity spread through these lands in the 4th century AD after the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Archeological site, Djemila
Going down Cardo Maximus we passed a deep well and then came upon a fountain in the form of a phallus; it was supposedly the Roman’s symbol of fertility.
Deep well, Archeological site, Djemila
Fountain in form of a phallus, Archeological site, Djemila
The Triumphal Arch was originally going to be taken by the French but when an accident occurred and the idea of demolishing it and transporting it back to Paris proved too difficult, the French built their own Arc de Triomphe.
Triumphal Arch, Djemila
There were so many interesting sights to take in on this walking tour it’s hard to do justice to the amazing experience.
Our guide Ridwane on Cardo Maximus, Archeological site, Djemila
Amongst the first highlights we saw were the Temple of Venus and Market Square where a table for measuring out volumes of grain was ingenious.
Market Square and Temple of Venus, Djemila
Table for measuring out voumes of grain, Market Square and Temple of Venus, Djemila
We then moved on to the Temple of Jupiter and saw the remains of Jupiter’s enormous statue.
Jak standing beside statue of Jupiter, Djemila
Nearby was the main forum and this one could accommodate 6000 people and had massive, one metre diameter surrounding columns.
Sacrificial table in main forum, Archeological site, Djemila
We moved on down to the Theatre which due to the terrain, was built outside the town walls, which was quite exceptional. The acoustics in the theatre were superb with stage voices being quite clear at forty rows up the theatre seating.
Theatre, Archeological site, Djemila
We spent a good deal of time at the spectacular Temple of Septimius Severus who served as Emperor from 193 until 211 AD. The remains of the temple are in remarkably good condition and the sight is awesome.
Temple of Septimius Severus, Archeological site, Djemila
Capital of column, Temple of Septimius Severus, Archeological site, Djemila
Roman toilets in a nearby enclosure caused a degree of amusement as did the penis and testicles carved rock outside the brothel.
We finished with the Roman Baths and their four different temperature controlled zones; (hot, cold, sauna and solarium). The five large water reservoirs adjacent supplied water for the baths and the city. Water was collected from rainfall and brought in by aqueduct from mountain areas above the city. The population of the city was estimated to be around six thousand but then expanded to reach a maximum of fifteen thousand.
Roman Baths, Archeological site, Djemila
Roman Baths, Archeological site, Djemila
This visit has been a fabulous experience and differs in a significant number of ways from other ancient Roman sites we’ve been to in recent times.
We then drove another 125 km to Constantine where we are staying for two nights at the El Khayem hotel.
Tomorrow we will spend time visiting places of interest in and around Constantine.