Part 45

From the centre of the theatre colonnade we may walk to the W. to the _Petits Thermes du Centre_ (Pl. E, 3), with admirably preserved heating apparatus in the caldarium and laconicum (p. 291) on the W. side.

On the W. side of these baths runs the CARDO MAXIMUS SUD, the finely paved main street of the S. quarter of the town, leading past the entirely ruined S. Gate (Pl. E, 4) and the house of the Sertii (on the right; p. 294), and ending at a _Fountain_ in the Voie des Thermes.

The *=Thermes du Sud= (Pl. E, 4), of the 2nd cent., extended in 198 and restored about the end of the 3rd cent., are the finest in the town next to the N. Thermæ.

A peculiarity of this building consists in the three great Exedræ, semicircular projections on the N.E. and S. sides. The semicircle near the S. entrance contained the Latrinæ, now almost entirely destroyed. The great colonnaded hall near the N. entrance served as a promenade. From the Palæstra, 26 by 10 yds., the largest hall in the baths, bathers could enter the Apodyterium as well as the Frigidarium, flanked by its two piscinæ. The small ante-rooms behind the Frigidarium opened into the heated rooms: on the right the Tepidarium, on the left the large Caldarium with its three hot-water basins, and, straight in front, a smaller Caldarium with two basins. The quadrangular space between the caldaria was the Laconicum.

The cellars on the S. side were partly occupied by the _Praefurnium_ (furnace room). Huge stoves (_furnaces_) heated the water in cylindrical boilers (_testudines_, no longer existing) and also the air, both for the _Hypocaustum_, or hollow floor resting on low brick pillars, and for the hollow tiles (_tubuli_) or nipple tiles (_tegulae mammatae_) with which the hollow walls of the hot rooms were lined.

To the S.W. of the thermæ is an _Artisan Quarter_ with a pottery and a bronze-foundry.

We may now visit the Byzantine Fortress (p. 296) or else go direct to the =House of the Sertii= (Pl. D, E, 4), one of the richest families in the town (comp. p. 295). This building, a great rectangle of 68 by 35½ yds., comprising no fewer than three insulæ or blocks, was built on the site of the ancient town-wall, and extends as far as the Voie du Capitole.

The colonnade in the Cardo Maximus Sud opens on a square _Vestibulum_. Adjacent, on the right, were a shop of the owner’s, the lodge of the porter (_ostiarius_), and the stairs ascending to the bath-rooms (_balineum_). Next to the vestibule came the _Peristyle_, a colonnaded court in the Doric style, off which opened the owner’s reception-room (_tablinum_), the dining-room (_triclinium_), and several bedrooms (_cubicula_). On the left there was a staircase to the upper story. A second peristyle, with a fountain-basin and a fish-pond (_vivarium_) was flanked by the offices. The large room at the back was the banqueting-room (_oecus_). On the W. side of the building were several shops for letting.

On the W. side of the inner town, outside the town-wall, which has here been built over, runs the broad VOIE DU CAPITOLE, at the upper end of which rises the—

*=Capitol= (Pl. C, D, 4; comp. p. 288), originally one of the grandest temples in the whole country. A flight of four steps ascends to the propylæum, a portico of twelve columns lately re-erected. The vast temple-court is an irregular quadrangle of about 98 by 68–73 yds.; the peribolos or enclosing wall was restored, according to an inscription, under Valentinian I. in 365. Still later the S. colonnade was converted into a closed corridor with shops. In the middle of the court is the basement of the ancient altar.

A lofty flight of steps, originally 38, broken halfway up by a platform, formed the approach to the temple (58 by 25 yds.). The cella, now destroyed, had three niches, a portico of six columns, and lateral colonnades, while the back-wall was closed. Two of the gigantic columns of the portico, 44 ft. high, have been re-erected, while the huge drums and capitals of others lie around, notably on the S. side of the temple.

We now walk down the Voie du Capitole to the =Marché de l’Ouest= (Pl. D, 3), or _West Macellum_, the largest covered market in the town, probably built by one of the Sertii (p. 294) early in the 3rd century.

The entrance is in the small Place du Marché, on the S. side of the Decumanus Maximus. The entrance colonnade (_chalcidicum_) leads into the quadrangle, 37 by 27 yds., paved with large slabs of limestone and surrounded by colonnades. In the centre originally stood a square fountain (_tholos_). At the N. end, near the entrance, were two shops on each side and the stairs to the upper floor. The most curious feature of the building is the raised *_Exedra_, once roofed, on the S. side of the court, with seven deep recesses, closed, like those of the E. Market (p. 292), by the stone counters of the sellers. Remains of the entablature are exhibited on the outer wall.

The rectangular ‘_Marché aux Vêtements_’ (Pl. C, D, 3), on the W. side of the Place du Marché, was probably a minor market.

Close by, on the N. side of the Decumanus Maximus, rises the small _Temple du Génie de Timgad_ (Pl. C, D, 3, 4), ‘a miniature capitol’, dedicated in 151 to the genius of the colony. Three flights of steps ascend to the temple-court with relics of the altar. The temple, with its four Corinthian columns in front, is a mere ruin.

We next visit *=Trajan’s Arch= (Pl. D, 3), the best-known triumphal arch in Algeria, an extremely massive structure, 40 ft. high, much restored in 1900. This was once the W. gate of the inner town (comp. p. 296). Instead of the usual corner-columns of the earlier triumphal arches, it has on each side four projecting Corinthian columns, whose entablature is relieved with rounded pediments in front of the attica. The two middle columns on the E. side terminate in eagles holding thunderbolts in their talons, instead of in volutes as in the usual capital. Of its three passages, which could be closed by means of portcullises, the central one was for vehicles, the two side-arches for foot-passengers. The square niches over the side-gateways, each crowned with an ædicula, were originally adorned with statues.

We now return to the inner part of the town. Between the first and the second S. side-street of the Decumanus Maximus is the _Maison de la Piscina_ (Pl. D, 3), a large dwelling-house occupying two insulæ, so named from the granite basin in the peristyle, adorned with nine little columns of red marble. The œcus, or festal hall, at the S. end, has a tasteful mosaic pavement.

Between the second and third S. side-streets of the Decumanus Maximus lies the open quadrangle of a _Granary_ (horreum), containing numerous grindstones (pilons à blé; Pl. 7, D 3). The house beyond the third side-street contains a _Cellar_ (hypogæum) resting on pillars and lighted by small windows.

The fourth N. side-street of the Decumanus Maximus, in a line with the Voie de la Curie, leads to the ruins of a =Monastery= of the Byzantine age, containing a balineum or bathroom. The _Basilica_ (Pl. 2, D, 2) is a complete ruin. To the N.W. of it is the _Baptistery_ (Pl. 1; D, 2), with relics of the font and its colonnade.

The _House of Januarius_ (Pl. 5; D, E 2), to the N.E. of the church, still has its balineum.

* * * * *

Time permitting, we may visit the ruins outside the town.

From the great N. Thermæ (p. 290) we may walk past the _Dépôt des Tapis Indigènes_, where the carpets made by the Berbers of the Aurès are sold (adm. free), to other remains of _Thermes_ (Pl. C, 1).

To the S. of this point lies the early-Christian =Cathedral= (Pl. C, 2), separated by a low hill from the outer Decumanus Maximus. This was a basilica with nave and two aisles, 42 by 18½ yds., with clustered columns and traces of the choirscreen and altar-basement. The sacristies (prothesis and diaconicon), adjoining the raised apse, seem to have been entered from the aisles only.

We next cross the hill and descend to the S.W. to the outer Decumanus Maximus. Here, on the left, quite near the bed of a recently formed torrent, is the _Château d’Eau_ (Pl. B, 3), the remains of an octagonal nymphæum or fountain.

Crossing the bed of the stream, and passing, on the left, the _Thermes du Nord-Ouest_ (Pl. B, 2), we reach the outer _Porte de l’Ouest_ (Pl. B, 2), a single gateway of the age of Marcus Aurelius, well preserved in its lower parts.

From the Nymphæum we ascend on the right bank of the brook towards the Capitol (p. 294), past an early-Christian _Chapel_ (Pl. C, 4), almost destroyed by the stream. Another early-Christian _Basilica_ lies to the S.W. of the Capitol. In the vicinity a large _Monastery_, including a church and a baptistery containing a font with fine mosaics, has recently been discovered.

Climbing over the hill to the S. of the Capitol, we have another survey of the extensive ruins, and then walk to the S. to the Byzantine fortress, 5 min. beyond the S. Thermæ (p. 293).

The *=Byzantine Fortress= (beyond Pl. E, 4), erected under Justinian with stones from the theatre, the Capitol, and other Roman buildings for defence against the Aurès Berbers, forms a vast rectangle, 122 by 80 yds., with walls 8 ft. thick, still rising to a height of 23 ft. on the W. side. Four central and four corner towers, and on the S. side a sallying gate, have been preserved.

The so-called _Gregory’s Basilica_, on a hill 3 min. to the S.W. of the fortress, the latest building in the town, dates only from the time of the governor Gregory (7th cent.; p. 371).

About 2 hrs. to the S.W. of Timgad lie the ruins of the ancient Berber town of =Ichoukkàn=, on a lofty plateau inaccessible on three sides, above the rock-gateway of _Foum Ksantina_ (‘Constantine-Gate’), so called from the resemblance of its situation to that of Constantine. Near it are extensive burial-grounds with thousands of graves.

46. Constantine.

The STATION (Pl. D, 4; _Rail. Restaurant_) for Algiers (R. 43), Biskra (R. 44), Philippeville (R. 47), Bona (R. 48), and Souk-Ahras (Tebessa, Tunis; RR. 49–51) is in the Faubourg d’el-Kantara, on the right bank of the Rhumel, 15–18 min. from the hotels.

HOTELS (comp. p. 174). _Grand-Hôtel_ (Pl. a; B, 4, 5), Rue Nationale 2, corner of Place de Nemours, with good restaurant, R. 3½–5, B. 1–1½, déj. 3½, D 4–5, pens. 10–12½ fr., omn. 1 fr.; _Hôt. St. Georges & d’Orient_ (Pl. b; B, 4), Rue Caraman 9, R. 3, pens. 10, omn. ¾ fr., good cuisine; _Hôt. de Paris & Royal_ (Pl. c; B, 4), Rue Nationale and Place de Nemours, R. 4, B. 1½, D. 4, pens. 9–11, omn. 1½ fr.—_Hôt. Terminus_, near the station, for a short stay, R. 3, déj. or D. 3 fr., plain but quite good; _Hôt. Rouvière_ (Pl. e; B, 4), unpretending but well spoken of.

CAFÉS. _Café Germain_, Place de Nemours; _Café Glacier_, Place du Palais 8; _Café Honorat_, in the Hôt. de Paris, Place de Nemours (music in the evening).—RESTAURANTS (beer). _Taverne Gambrinus_, Rue Caraman 6; _Brasserie de l’Etoile_, Place de Nemours.

POST & TELEGRAPH OFFICE (Pl. 10; B, 5), Place de Nemours.

CABS (stand, Place de Nemours), first ½ hr. 1¼ (after 10 p.m. 1½) fr.; for 1 hr. 2½, each addit. ½ hr. 1 fr.; half-day (6 hrs.) 10, whole day (12 hrs.) 20 fr.—OMNIBUS from the Place de Nemours to the Station 10, trunk 25 c.; also to the Faubourg St. Jean.

BATHS. _Bains Lyonnais_, Rue Damrémont; _Bains Rémès_, in the ravine of the Rhumel (p. 302).

BOOKSELLERS. _Braham_, Rue du Palais 4; _Roubille_, Rue Damrémont 37.—NEWSPAPER. _Dépêche de Constantine._

THEATRE. _Théâtre Municipal_ (Pl. B, 5; Nov.–Feb. only), Place de Nemours.

ONE DAY. Forenoon, _Place de Nemours_ and _Squares_, _Museum_, _Palais de Hadj Ahmed_, _Jewish Quarter_, *_Quartier Perrégaux_ (pp. 299–301). Afternoon, *_Gorges du Rhumel_ (p. 301). Guide quite unnecessary.

_Constantine_ (1752–2113 ft.; pop. 55,000, incl. 28,300 Mohammedans and 8300 Jews), Arabic _Ksantina_ or _Blad el-Hawa_ (‘cité aérienne’, ‘town of air’), the capital of the province of that name and the seat of a bishop and of a medersa (Mohammedan college), is the third-largest town in Algeria. The old town, typically Berber in its difficulty of access, lies on a chalky limestone plateau, descending to the S.E. and N.E. almost perpendicularly to the _Ravine of the Rhumel_, and to the N.W. to the bed of a brook, while on the S.W. it is connected by a narrow saddle with the spurs of the long _Jebel Chettaba_ (4313 ft.). The town has three suburbs, the small _Faubourg d’el-Kantara_ near the station, and the faubourgs _St. Jean_ and _St. Antoine_ on the margin of the _Coudiat-Aty_ (Pl. A, 5, 6), a hill recently almost levelled to form a building-site.

Constantine is the centre of the Algerian grain-trade and has an important wool-exchange. Several manufactures too are very active (tanning, shoemaking, saddlery, and weaving). The chief centres of trade and manufacture are still the native quarters, resembling the Kasba of Algiers, the picturesque charm of which has so far been marred by the construction of but few new streets. The gay costumes of the Mohammedans and the mediæval attire of the Jewesses are specially interesting.

Constantine has but a poor climate. Spring is the best season for visiting it. In winter the cold (p. 170) is very severe and the winds are often bitter, while in summer and autumn the hot sirocco is more prevalent than anywhere on the coast. The low ground flanking the Rhumel is malarious from June to October.

Constantine, originally the Phœnician _Kartha_ (‘town’), afterwards called _Cirta_ by the Romans, was the greatest inland centre of culture in the territory of the Numidian kings, and under Syphax became their residence. The first recorded conquest of the town was by Jugurtha (p. 321), in B.C. 112, who wrested it from his cousin Adherbal. Under the Roman empire Cirta, the chief of the four allied _Coloniæ Cirtenses_ (Constantine, Milo, Philippeville, and Collo), belonged to the _Diocesis Numidia_, the domain of the legate of the Third Legion (p. 286). Having been destroyed by the troops of Emp. Maxentius in 311, the town sprang up anew from its ruins the following year; it then superseded Lambæsis as the capital of Numidia, and was named _Constantina_, in honour of its patron Constantine the Great. In 435 it was the only town in Barbary that repelled the attacks of the Vandal Genseric (p. 322), but it remained politically unimportant till the Moorish period, when it was occupied by the Hammadites (p. 263), and afterwards belonged in turn to the Almohades (p. 95), the Merinides (p. 95), and the Hafsides (p. 323). In the middle ages it rivalled Bougie as a seat of learning.

In the Turkish period Constantine was the capital of the E. Algerian beylic, and for centuries groaned under the despotism of the beys. In French military annals it was noted for its heroic defence by _Ahmed Bey_, who after the fall of Algiers had become the independent ruler of E. Algeria. In 1836 the first French attack upon the El-Kantara gate from the hill of Mansoura proved a disastrous failure, over five hundred of the besiegers being hurled into the ravine of the Rhumel. The capture of the town in 1837, effected from the Coudiat-Aty, was purchased with the death of generals Damrémont and Perrégaux.

During the first decades of the French domination all the Roman buildings were destroyed except the aqueduct (p. 302), the Rhumel bridge (p. 301), and the cisterns (p. 300). The buildings of the Turkish period afford an instructive example of the sad decline of late-Moorish art.

The railway-station (Pl. D, 4) is at present connected with the old town by the iron bridge of *=El-Kántara= (Pl. D, 3; 1863), of one arch, 139 yds. long and 407 ft. above the Rhumel. Far below we see the Roman bridge (p. 301), and upstream we have a fine view of the S. part of the gorge. Much higher up is the _New Bridge_ (comp. Pl. C, 6), a marvellous feat of engineering. It spans the Rhumel ravine, at a height of 330 ft. above the river, with a single arch of masonry, 230 ft. in width.

From the former Porte d’el-Kantara runs the new RUE NATIONALE (Pl. C, B, 4), the chief thoroughfare of Constantine, leading through the whole town to (½ M.) the Place de Nemours. Halfway, where the street bends and is crossed by the Rue Perrégaux (p. 301), rises the new _Medersa_ (Pl. 7, C 4; see p. 297) in the Turkish-Moorish style; from its staircase we enjoy an even finer view of the Rhumel ravine than from the crossroads.

Halfway along the upper part of the street, on the left, rises the =Grande Mosquée= (Pl. B, 4, 5; Arabic _Jâma el-Kebîr_), which received a new façade and minaret when the street was made. The very dissimilar columns which support the timber ceiling in the interior are partly from ancient buildings. Two antique Doric capitals recall the columns of the mausoleum of Le Khroub (p. 273).

The noisy and dusty PLACE DE NEMOURS or _Place de la Brèche_ (Pl. B, 4, 5; 2054 ft. above sea-level), on the site of the _Bâb el-Djadia_ or _Porte de la Brèche_, is the chief scene of the town’s traffic. A few paces to the S.W., between the old town and the _Coudiat-Aty_ (p. 297), are two public gardens. On the left, next the street leading to the new bridge, is the pretty _Square No. 1_ (Pl. A, B, 5), with a bronze statue of Valée; and on the right _Square No. 2_ (Pl. A, 5), with numerous Roman antiquities. The latter affords a splendid view of Jebel Chettaba (p. 297), of the lower valley of the Rhumel visible a long way down, and of the distant heights of El-Kantour (p. 303). The road between the two squares proceeds to the S.W. to the _Monument of Gen. Lamoricière_ (Pl. A, 5) by Belloc (1909), in front of the _Halle aux Grains_.—From the latter the new _Viaduct_ (comp. Pl. A-C, 5, 6; 490 yds.), now under construction, will eventually lead to the New Bridge (p. 298).

Beneath the Hôtel de Paris et Royal (p. 297), at the E. corner of the Place de Nemours, a flight of 90 steps descends to some interesting _Grottoes_ (adm. 1 fr.), whose sparkling, rose-shaped crystals of gypsum produce a very unique effect.—From the N. angle of the square the Boul. de l’Ouest leads along the town-wall to the HÔTEL DE VILLE (Pl. 6; A, B, 4), of 1903, whose staircase and vestibule are enriched with onyx and six kinds of marble from Aïn-Smara (p. 272). The first floor contains the _Town Library_ and behind it the—

=Musée de Constantine=, comprising antiquities and natural history collections. Adm. (except Sun. and Tues.) 9–11 and 3–5, 50 c. Conservator, M. Ulysse Hinglais. Catalogue (1905) 1 or 5 fr.

On the STAIRCASE are Roman mosaics.

ROOM I. In the central cases are prehistoric finds from the Tell Atlas and the Oued Rhir (p. 285); Byzantine and early-Moorish antiquities from Morsott (p. 314) and Kalâa des Beni-Hammad (p. 270); natural history specimens (incl. vegetable fibres utilized industrially). The wall-presses contain fossils from the hill of Mansoura (p. 302) and Jebel Sidi M’Cid; Phœnician and Roman antiquities from the necropolises of the Coudiat-Aty, of Collo, Bulla Regia, etc. (clay vases, fine Roman bronzes, a glass cinerary urn, trinkets, cut gems). By the wall of exit are Spanish-Moorish, Italian, and Kabylian ceramics, Moorish fayence from Tlemcen, Nabeul (p. 365), etc.; a late-Moorish door; a Turkish executioner’s sword from Khenchela. Here too are a map of the artesian wells in the province of Constantine and a model of a boring apparatus.

ROOM II. The show-cases contain coins and medals. In the wall-presses, natural history specimens; marble and onyx from Aïn-Smara. On the walls, a small collection of pictures.

GALLERY (on the left of R. I). Large Roman clay vessels, neo-Punic and Roman stelæ, Roman sculptures, Moorish fragments, casts.

From the Boul. de l’Ouest the Boul. du Nord (Pl. A, B, 4, 3; fine views) and (to the right) the Rue du Rocher lead to the _Kasba_ (p. 300).

The busiest streets of the European quarter, where many of the inhabitants are Italians and Maltese, are the RUE CARAMAN (Pl. B, 4) with the Rue Chevalier, the Rue d’Aumale, and the RUE DAMRÉMONT (Pl. B, 4, 3), all to the N. of the Place de Nemours. Between these lines of streets lies the spacious PLACE DU PALAIS (Pl. B, 4).

The =Palais de Hadj Ahmed= (Pl. B, 4; now military headquarters), on the N.E. side of the square, built by Ahmed Bey in 1828–35, contains four picturesque courts, adorned with tiles. The front court is decorated with clumsy frescoes depicting chief towns of the Orient. The interior is not shown. Concierge ½ fr.

The =Cathedral= (Pl. 2, B 4; _Notre-Dame des Sept-Douleurs_), on the E. side of the Place du Palais, was once the Market Mosque (_Jâma Sûk er-Rezel_), with its nave and double aisles, built in 1707. The women’s galleries next the entrance-wall now contain the organ. The choir is a modern addition. In the outer right aisle, in the middle of the E. wall, with its well-preserved tile and stucco decoration, is the old mihrâb (p. 180), now a chapel. The mimbar in the inner left aisle is now the pulpit; behind it is a copy of the inscription on the Rocher des Martyrs (p. 301).

The Rue Caraman, continued by the Rue Chevalier, and the Rue de France (Pl. B, C, 4, 3) both lead to the N.E. to the PLACE NÉGRIER (Pl. C, 3), in which rises the Mosque of _Sidi el-Kettani_ (Pl. 8; B, C, 3), built by Sala-Bey. The first floor of the building contains a marble mimbar executed by Italian sculptors. On the N. side of the square is a new _Synagogue_ (Pl. 11; C, 3).

At the N. end of the town, partly on the site of the Roman capitol, is the old =Kasba= (Pl. B, 3; 2116 ft.; 666 ft. above the Rhumel), now a group of new buildings, including barracks and the military hospital. Of the _Roman Cisterns_, originally a quadrangle of 164 by 39 yds., about one-third has been preserved and is now again in use. The view from the garden of the _Artillery Arsenal_ (Pl. B, C, 2, 3), at the N. end of the Kasba, immediately above the ravine of the Rhumel, is justly extolled. Adm. by leave of the military authorities (Palais de Hadj Ahmed; see above). Entrance in the Rue Damrémont (p. 299). From the Kasba the new _Suspension Bridge_ (‘Pont Suspendu’; Pl. C, D, 2, 3) crosses the Rhumel at a height of 590 ft. to the _Hôpital Civil_ (Pl. D, 2).

The *=Native Quarters=, intersected by the upper Rue Nationale, with their lively, picturesque, crooked streets, lie in the lower part of the town, between the Place de Nemours, Rue Caraman, Rue de France, and the Rhumel ravine (p. 301). The most interesting streets are those inhabited by Mohammedan artisans, largely Mozabites (p. 216), between the Rue Combes (Pl. B, 4) and the Rue Vieux (Pl. B, C, 4, 3), both of which lead to the N.E. to the Place Rahbet es Souf (‘wool-market’) or Place des Galettes (Pl. C, 4), with its _Market Hall_. Between this square and the Boul. de l’Est (Pl. C, 3), a fine point of view, lies the _Jewish Quarter_, which is worth seeing, especially on Saturdays.

Still more picturesque than these quarters is the purely Mohammedan *_Quartier Perrégaux_, which descends the triangular S. part of the rocky plateau, often in steep steps, from the Rue Nationale to the Rhumel Ravine. Through this quarter runs the RUE PERRÉGAUX (Pl. C, B, 4, 5), the chief thoroughfare between the Rue Nationale and the old Turkish _Porte Djebia_ (Pl. B, 5). Near this gate, at the corner of the Rue Perrégaux and Rue des Tanneurs, is a _Mosque Portal_ with charming tile-decoration.