Part 30

To the S.W. from La Sénia diverges the ORAN AND AÏN-TEMOUCHENT LINE (from Oran 47½ M., in 2¼–3 hrs.; fares 8 fr. 60, 6 fr. 15, 4 fr. 60 c.). The train skirts the S. base of _Jebel Murjajo_ (p. 182), near the Sebkha d’Oran. 12½ M. _Misserghin_ (360 ft.; Hôt. des Voyageurs, Hôt. de la Paix, both poor; pop. 4400), situated 9½ M. to the S.W. of Oran by the Tlemcen road, a spot much visited from Oran, possessing a large pépinière or nursery, and several monastic foundations; charming walk to the (2½ M.) _Ravin de la Vierge_ through luxuriant orange, lemon, mandarin, and banana groves.—22½ M. _Bou-Tlélis_ (295 ft.), whence a road leads viâ the _Forêt M’Sila_ and _El-Ançor_ to _Bou-Sfer_ (p. 184). 29½ M. _Lourmel_ (300 ft.), near the W. end of the salt-lake. 35 M. _Er-Rahel_ (450 ft.), connected by road (6¼ M.) with _Hammam Bou-Hadjar_ (p. 184). We cross the _Rio Salado_ (Arabic _Oued Malah_) to (40 M.) _Rio Salado_ (279 ft.), famed for its wine.—47½ M. =Aïn-Temouchent= (847 ft.; Royal Hotel; Hôt. de Londres; Hôt. de la Poste; pop. 7500), founded in 1851 on the site of the Roman _Albulae_, chiefly inhabited by Spaniards, lies amidst vineyards and orchards in the narrow valley of the _Oued Senane_, into which the _Oued Temouchent_ falls here. The Thurs. market is worth seeing.

The ROAD TO TLEMCEN, 41 M. (diligence at 7 p.m. in 9 hrs., returning from Tlemcen at 9 p.m.; coupé 6 fr.) leads to the S.W. from Aïn-Temouchent through a hill-region, composed mainly of eruptive rock, and well-watered, to the thriving village of _Aïn-Kial_ (1477 ft.; noted for its cattle), crosses the pass (1998 ft.; fine views) of _Jebel Sebaa-Chioukh_, and then descends past the onyx-quarries of the hill-village of _Tekbalet_ to the _Isser Valley_. 20½ M. _Pont-de-l’Isser_ (807 ft.; Hôt. Pomarès, humble), a village amid orange-gardens and olive-groves, is almost purely Mohammedan. The road, now shadeless, affording fine glimpses of Tlemcen, ascends for a long time in the valley of the _Oued el-Guettara_, and reaches (37½ M.) _Safsaf_ (2493 ft.) and (41 M.) _Tlemcen_ (2658 ft.; p. 187).

Another road (23 M.; omn. at 9 a.m.) leads to the W. from Aïn-Temouchent to the little seaport of _Beni-Saf_, the outlet for the iron-ores of the Comp. du Mokta el-Hadid (p. 303). From Beni-Saf a road (omn. at 6.45 a.m., in 9 hrs.; 5 fr.) leads viâ (5½ M.) _Rachgoun_ (opposite the island mentioned at p. 125) into the fertile valley of the _Tafna_, the ancient _Siga_, and to (8¾ M.) _Takembrit_, the modern name for the ruins of the once important Roman town of _Siga_. Then, beyond the confluence of the Isser with the Tafna, the road reaches (27½ M.) _Montagnac_ (735 ft.) and (36 M.) _Hennaya_ (1346 ft.), whence it ascends to (42½ M.) _Tlemcen_ (2658 ft.).

The TLEMCEN RAILWAY, beyond La Sénia, crosses the Plaine du Figuier, and beyond (6 M.) _Valmy_ (p. 184) nears the salt-works on the Sebkha d’Oran (p. 185). 16 M. _Ste. Barbe-du-Tlélat_ (492 ft.) is noted for its table grapes.

Our train here diverges to the S.E. from the line to Perrégaux and Algiers (R. 33), and follows the vine-clad valley of the _Oued Tlélat_. Beyond (20 M.) _St. Lucien_ we pass a barrage or reservoir. 26 M. _Les Lauriers-Roses_ lies on the N.E. spurs of _Jebel Tessala_ (3481 ft.), the mountain which separates the great and fertile tableland of Sidi Bel-Abbès, one of the granaries of the province, from the basin of the Sebkha d’Oran.

The train crosses the _Col des Ouled-Ali_ and the _Oued Imbert_ (1578 ft.) in the fertile valley of that name, and reaches the top of the tableland. 38½ M. _Les Trembles_ (1375 ft.); the village lies on a height to the left, between the _Oued Mekerra_ (Sig, p. 206) and its affluent _Oued Sarno_. We then ascend the Mekerra valley to (42½ M.) _Prudon_ (1477 ft.), where many of the wine-growers are Germans, old soldiers of the French foreign legion.

48½ M. =Sidi Bel-Abbès= (1542 ft.; Hôt. d’Orient & Continental; Hôt. des Voyageurs; pop. 29,080), a prosperous agricultural town, was founded in 1849 on the plan of a Roman camp, with streets at right angles, and is surrounded by suburbs occupied mainly by Spanish immigrants. This is the headquarters of the _Légion Etrangère_, composed mainly of adventurers and deserters from Germany and other countries, the first regiment of whom is located here and the second at Saïda (p. 201). The legion is for the most part stationed on the Sahara railway (p. 199), in Morocco, or in the colonies. Great market on Thursdays. Outside the S. gate, the Porte de Tlemcen, are pleasant public grounds (concerts).

_A. E. W. Mason’s_ novel ‘The Truants’ (London, 1904) deals with the Foreign Legion.

62½ M. _Tabia_ (2035 ft.), the next important station, is the junction for a line to (48 M.) _Crampel_ (_Ras el-Ma_), used chiefly for the esparto traffic (p. 171).

We now near the main chain of the Tell Atlas of Oran. 77½ M. _Aïn-Tellout_, with the spring of that name and a waterfall. 83 M. _Lamoricière_ (2349 ft.), in a fertile tract, on the _Isser_. Near _Hadjar-Roum_, to the E. of the station, lay the Roman _Altava_.

89½ M. _Oued-Chouly_, on the brook of that name, which bursts forth in cascades from a ravine to join the Isser. Near this, at _Sidi-Hamza_, are considerable onyx-quarries. The train now ascends rapidly to (97 M.) _Aïn-Fezza_ (2855 ft.).

We next enter the upper *_Safsaf Valley_, enclosed by the high limestone slopes of _Jebel Hanif_ (3928 ft.) and _Jebel Chouka_ (3786 ft.), and in a sharp bend, passing through several tunnels, sweep round the gorge of _El-Ourit_ (p. 196), with its waterfalls. We skirt the foot of _Sidi Bou-Médine_ (p. 194), obtaining a beautiful view of the fertile hill-country to the right, and run through olive-groves to (102½ M.) _Tlemcen_ (see p. 187).

[Illustration: TLEMCEN]

30. Tlemcen.

The STATION lies to the E., 6 min. beyond the Porte de Sidi Bou-Médine (Pl. D, 2, 3).

HOTELS. _Hôtel de France_ (Pl. b; C, 3), Rue de Fez, R. 2½–4, B. 1¼, déj. 3. D. 4, pens. 9–12, omn. 1 fr.; _Hôtel Charles_ (Pl. a; C, 2), Place des Victoires, R. 3, B. ¾, déj. or D. 3, pens. 7½, omn. 1 fr., good, though plain, with restaurant.—CAFÉS in the Place de la Mairie, Place des Victoires, etc.

CARRIAGES (mostly with three horses, poor but not dear; fares according to bargain) in the Place des Victoires and Esplanade du Méchouar.

POST & TELEGRAPH OFFICE (Pl. B, 2), Boulevard National.

ONE DAY AND A HALF. 1st. Forenoon, *_Great Mosque_ (p. 189), _Museum_ (p. 190), *_Sidi el-Haloui Mosque_ (p. 191), _Agâdir_ (p. 196); afternoon, *_Mansura_ (p. 193).—2nd. *_Sidi Bou-Médine_ (p. 194). Mosques open daily 8–11 a.m.; at other times a permit of the sub-prefect (see Pl. B, 2) is required (comp. also p. 174).

_Tlemcen_ (2658 ft.), the old capital of the central Maghreb (Maghreb el-Oust), was in the middle ages, along with Fez, one of the great trading stations between the W. Sahara and the Mediterranean, and had a factory of the Genoese and the Venetians. It is now, after Oran, the most important town in the province, with 37,300 inhab. (including 25,500 Mohammedans, chiefly Berbers and Moors, and 5000 Jews); it possesses the only Medersa (p. 228) in the province of Oran, founded in 1904, and is the chief military post on the W. frontier of Algeria. The town is very charmingly situated on a flat hill at the base of a ridge crowned with the _Kubba Lalla-Setti_ (3363 ft.), a spur of the _Jebel Terni_ or _Massif de Tlemcen_. Beyond the extensive hilly region to the N., sloping steeply down to the valleys of the Isser and the Tafna (p. 185), we descry the bold mountains of the Traras group (p. 198) and of Jebel Sebaa-Chioukh (p. 185). The nearer environs of the town, on the upper margin of the plateau, are exuberantly fertile. Luxuriant fruit-bearing hedges are interspersed with groves of gigantic olive, carob, and pistachio trees, from whose shade peep forth the white domes of numerous tombs of saints (p. 172).

Tlemcen still contains historic memorials of its mediæval prime and a number of Moorish works of art, mostly of the Abdelwadite and Merinide periods (p. 188). These last, like the buildings of Fez and Kairwan (p. 372), are among the most interesting in Barbary. Their great charm consists in the fact that their native characteristics have been preserved in a picturesque environment where customs and dress differ but slightly from those of the ancient East.

_Pomaria_, the earliest settlement in this region, was once, like Altava (p. 186) and Numerus Syrorum (p. 197), a Roman camp for the defence of the most important military road in Mauretania Cæsariensis (p. 244), but in Roman times, notwithstanding its favourable position, it was outstripped by Siga (p. 185). On its site, by the time of Sidi Okba (p. 322), there had already sprung up the Berber settlement of _Agâdir_, which, under Idris I. (p. 95) in 790, became the fortified capital of the E. province of Morocco for defence against the Kharijite kingdom in Tiaret (p. 208). For seven centuries from that time onwards it was involved in all the party struggles for the possession of Barbary. During the conflicts of Omaiyades (p. 69) and Fatimites (p. 323), the governors of Agâdir, descendants of Solaïmân ben-Abdallah, brother of Idris I., maintained their position as vassals of one or other of these dynasties, but in 973 the town was sacked by Bologgîn ez-Ziri (p. 323) in the course of a war against the Omaiyades.

In 1081 the Almoravide Yûsuf ibn Têshufîn (p. 95) appeared before the gates of Agâdir, and on the site of his camp (Berber ‘tagrârt’) founded the new town of _Tagrârt_, afterwards the _Telensîn_ or _Tlimsân_ of the Moors, and united W. Algeria with Morocco. In 1145 the vicinity of Tagrârt witnessed the decisive battle between Tâkhfîn ben-Ali (p. 183) and Abd el-Mûmen (p. 95) which sealed the fate of the Almoravide kingdom. Since then Tagrârt appears in history as the seat of Almohade governors of the family of Abd el-Wâd, settled near Tlemcen, a branch of the powerful Berber tribe of the Zenata, and also as a military camp, while the lower classes only inhabited Agâdir.

The fall of the Almohades (p. 95) gave rise to the kingdom of Tlemcen, which was soon extended to the W. to the Mulûya (p. 124) and to the E. to Bougie (p. 262). The first independent monarch was Yarmorâsen ben-Zeiyân (1239–82), of the _Abdelwadites_, who, with the aid of Moorish artists from Andalusia, transformed Tlemcen, his capital, into a rival of Fez as one of the most brilliant art-centres in Barbary.

Embellished in legend and in poetry, and most famous among episodes in the annals or the Maghreb were the two sieges of Tlemcen by the Merinides (p. 95). The first siege by Abû Yakûb and his grandson Abû-Tsâbit Omar (1299–1307) commenced with the foundation of the fortified town of _El-Mahalla el-Mansura_, which, saving the mosque, was razed to the ground by the Abdelwadites after the withdrawal of the Moroccan army, but was rebuilt by Abû’l-Hasen Ali (1335–7) on the occasion of the second, and this time successful, siege of Tlemcen.

To the brief sway of the _Merinides_ (1337–59) Tlemcen is indebted for almost all the important buildings outside of its walls. The chief residence of Abû’l-Hasen Ali (d. 1348), next to Fez, was Mansura, where he erected a new ‘palace of victory’ as his kasba; but the place was abandoned under Abû Inân Fâres (1348–58), and from that time down to the French period it merely served as a stone-quarry.

During the brilliant reign of Abû Hammu Mûsa II. (1359–89), the first of the _Ziyanides_ (1359–1517), the younger Abdelwadite dynasty, his court vied with that of Granada as a resort of artists, poets, and scholars; but from that time onwards Tlemcen shared the general decadence of Barbary. It was not only the chief scene of all the conflicts between the Merinides and Hafsides (p. 323), but was grievously torn by internal dissensions also, so that it soon lost all importance. After the overthrow of the Ziyanides by Horuk Barbarossa (p. 221), and after a short occupation by the Spaniards (1518), Tlemcen became a poor provincial town in the beylic of Oran. The present town-walls (1855–6) and a whole new quarter are creations of the French régime, under which, in 1842, Tlemcen was incorporated with their new colony of Algeria.

Comp. _Marçais’s_ book on Tlemcen mentioned at p. 175 and _A. Bel’s_ ‘Tlemcen et ses Environs’ (Oran, 1909).

From the Porte de Sidi Bou-Médine (Pl. D, 2, 3), the chief gate of the town, the Rue de Sidi Bel-Abbès leads in 2 min. to the ESPLANADE DU MÉCHOUAR (Pl. C, 3), planted with fine plane-trees. On the left rises the—

=Méchouar= (Arabic _meshwâr_, the king’s castle), the residence of the Abdelwadites and Ziyanides, erected by Yarmorâsen about 1255, a great quadrangular pile, forming like the Alhambra a complete quarter of the town. The building was largely destroyed during a revolt against Hassan, Bey of Mascara, in 1670, and in 1842 was replaced by French barracks. The only relics of the original edifice are the _Castle Wall_, built by Abû’l-Abbâs Ahmed, the thirteenth Ziyanide, with its modern clock-tower of 1843, and the _Castle Mosque_, founded in 1317, which was long used as a storehouse. The latter, having been converted into a chapel for the military hospital, has lost its original character in the interior (adm. on application).

From the E. end of the Esplanade the Rue du Théâtre leads to the PLACE DES VICTOIRES (Pl. C, D, 2), planted with trees, from the parapet of which we look down on the E. Mohammedan quarter (p. 191) and the hills of the Safsaf valley.

A little to the N.W. is the PLACE DE LA MAIRIE (Pl. C, 2), which, together with the Place d’Alger (p. 190) on its W. side, forms the business centre of the town. On its S. side rises the _Mairie_ (Pl. C, 2), erected in 1843. In the court are two onyx columns from Mansura, bearing two huge stone balls which were thrown into the town during one of the Merinide sieges.

The *=Great Mosque= (Pl. C, 2; Arabic _Jâma el-Kebîr_), the back of which bounds the N. side of the square, now the only edifice of the Almoravide period at Tlemcen, is very important in art-history as one of the few Moorish buildings of the 12th cent. that have survived without alteration. The inscription on the frieze of the drum of the mihrâb dome records the name of the founder, the caliph Ali ibn Yûsuf, who with the aid of Andalusian artists erected the court and the house of prayer adjacent to the _Kasr el-Kadîm_, or royal castle, in 1135–8. The minaret was not added till the reign of Yarmorâsen (after 1250). The kubba at the S.W. angle, adjoining the Rue de France, once perhaps the tomb of Yarmorâsen and several of the Ziyanides, now contains the vault of _Mohammed ben-Merzûg_. On the E. side of the mosque, near the old vine in the side-street, is a second saint’s tomb, the kubba of _Ahmed Bel-Hasen el-Ghomari_ (d. 1466). The library, a later addition next to the minaret, has been removed by the French.

The square court of the mosque, which we enter on the E. side, is flanked on three sides by triple or quadruple arcades; the two aisles of the N. arcade, which precede the minaret, are of later date. The irregular plan of the arcades and of the main portal leading into the nave of the mosque was probably due to the situation of the castle. The onyx pavement of the court is preserved in part only.

The INTERIOR, consisting of a central nave (15 by 10½ ft.) with twelve narrower aisles, is entered by five portals on the S. side of the court, whose arches are of round or pointed horseshoe form or multifoil, and also by two E. portals. The arcades, whose arches are mostly horseshoe-shaped, but in a few cases pointed, rest on short pillars. The open roof is well preserved. The nave is crowned with two domes, the nearer rising behind the sedda (p. 180), while the second, over the mihrâb chapel, shows beginnings of stalactite vaulting. The great candelabrum under the central dome is modern and is for the most part an imitation of the old one said to have been presented by Yarmorâsen and now in the Museum (see below). The mimbar and kursi (p. 451) are of no artistic value, and the maksûra (p. 71) has disappeared. The elegant stucco ornamentation of the *Mihrâb, which even extends to the exterior, where the stone slabs are framed with multifoil arches, recalls the mosque of Cordova. The prayer-niche is lighted by three perforated windows of plaster. Behind the mihrâb is the sacristy.

The MINARET, 115 ft. high, resembling the tower of Agâdir (p. 196), affords a beautiful view of the town and environs.

On the W. side of the PLACE D’ALGER (Pl. C, 2), where the ruins of the famous _Medersa Jadîda_ or _Tâkhfînîya_, a school for the learned erected by the Abdelwadite Abû Tâkhfîn (1322–37), existed down to 1876, rises the—

*=Sidi Bel-Hassen Mosque=, now the _Museum_ (Pl. 2, B, C, 2; custodian in the court of the Mairie; fee ½ fr.), erected in 1296 by the Abdelwadite Abû Saïd Otsmân. It consists of nave and two aisles, with a low minaret. Used by the French successively as a storehouse and a school, it was carefully restored in 1900, and is now a perfect gem in the interior. The stucco *Decoration of the walls, preserved in part only, with its rich and graceful arabesques (p. 445), and the geometrical ornamentation of the round-arched plaster windows, recall the sumptuous rooms of the Alcázar at Seville and the Alhambra of Granada. The half-dome of the **Mihrâb, whose horseshoe mural arch rests on two small columns of onyx, is borne by stalactite or honeycomb vaulting. The ancient roof of cedar is well preserved in the left aisle only.

Below the two friezes with Cufic inscriptions adjoining the Mihrâb are fragments, built into the wall, of fayence tiles from the old Medersa Tâkhfînîya and the Méchouar. The beautiful onyx basin once belonged to the latrine-court of the Great Mosque. Along the walls are several Roman and numerous Mohammedan tombstones, some of them belonging to kings of Tlemcen. Near the entrance is the so-called Coudée Royale, a marble slab from the Kessaria (comp. p. 191), bearing an ell-measure and regulations for the trade of Christian merchants with the natives (1328). In the second room are the old candelabrum and remains of the old maksûra of the Great Mosque (comp. above), Moorish and Turkish tiles, etc. On the first floor is the _Geological Museum_.

The dirty streets to the S. of the Place de la Mairie and the Place d’Alger, which have been laid out in straight lines under the French régime, belong to the _Jewish Quarter_, where, however, a few of the old one-storied houses with a kind of sunken flat, still survive.

A pleasanter walk may be taken through the =Mohammedan Quarters=, especially that to the E. of the Place de la Mairie, where we may witness, especially on market-day (Mon.), the most lively and picturesque scenes of native life. The busiest points are the _Marché Couvert_ (Pl. C, 2) in the Place du Kessaria, where the Italian merchants had their offices in the middle ages, and also the Rue de Mascara (Pl. C, D, 2, 1) and the Rue Kaldoun (Pl. C, D, 1). Adjoining the Rue de Mascara, once the Sûk el-Berada’in (saddlers’ market), is an impasse called the Derb el-Msoufa, in which is situated the little _Mosque of Sidi Senoussi_ (Pl. D, 2; his tomb is near Sidi Bou-Médine, p. 194), with a graceful minaret inlaid with tiles and a small house of prayer on the first floor.

In the street between the Rue de Mascara and the Rue Kaldoun are the so-called BAINS DES TEINTURIERS (Pl. D, 1; _Hammâm es-Sebbâghîn_), an ancient Moorish bath-house (12th cent.?), the plan of which seems to have been an exact copy of the Roman bath.

The ante-room, now much altered, was apparently the tepidarium. Straight on we come to the apodyterium, a domed room on twelve short mediæval columns, with a gallery running round it. To the left of this room is the caldarium in three sections, with the heating apparatus on the E. side. The S. side-room is the frigidarium.

At the end of the Rue Kaldoun we leave the town by the Porte de l’Abattoir (Pl. D, 1; road to Agâdir, see p. 196), and turn to the left, skirting the town-walls, above the dilapidated _Sidi Lahsen Mosque_, built by Abû’l-Abbâs Ahmed (p. 189), which has an elegant minaret and an interior restored in the Turkish period.

On a slope near the N.E. angle of the town-walls, below the railway, and formerly below the Bâb Sidi’l-Haloui, is the tomb of the saint of that name (d. 1307), adjoined by the—

*=Sidi el-Haloui Mosque=, a creation of the Merinide Abû Inân Fâres (p. 188). The pinnacled outer gateway leads to the now freely restored chief portal, with its fine inlaid mosaic tiles, two friezes with inscriptions, and a projecting timber roof.

The ground-plan of this mosque is similar to that of the slightly earlier mosque of Sidi Bou-Médine (p. 194). From the court, enclosed by a single arcade, we enter the house of prayer with its nave (11 ft. broad), double aisles (10 ft.), and transept. The square mihrâb chapel is covered by a slightly elevated tiled roof instead of a dome. The old timber ceiling of the interior has recently been much restored, and remains of the superb stucco decoration have lately been brought to light from under the whitewash. The mihrâb has lost all its rich ornamentation save the stalactite vaulting. The eight onyx *Columns, brought from Mansura, which support the pointed horseshoe arches of the arcades, are remarkable for their beautiful capitals in the Moorish style.

The minaret added at the W. angle of the court, with its multifoil arched niches in the two lower stories and reticulated work on the upper, resembles that of the mosque of Sidi Bou-Médine. A portal opposite with a projecting roof leads to the domed _Latrines_.

We now follow the path to the W., skirting the town-walls, and affording fine views, to the Porte du Nord (Pl. B, 1), through which we enter the Rue de France. From this street the Boulevard National soon diverges to the right to the large PLACE CAVAIGNAC (Pl. B, 1, 2), the chief square in the uniformly built French quarter. The font in the church of _St. Michel_ (Pl. B, 2) came from the mosque of Mansura.

On the E. side of the church runs the Rue Ximénès, intersecting the whole town. This street, or the Rue de la Victoire (Pl. C, B, 2), which begins at the Place d’Algier, forms the chief approach to the _S. W. Mohammedan Quarter_, which was inhabited in the Turkish period mainly by Kuluglis (p. 171). At the S. end of the Rue Ximénès, on the left, is the interesting _Ecole Professionnelle Indigène de Tapis_ (Pl. C, 4; adm. daily 8–11 and 2–5, except on Sun., Frid., and great festivals).

The busy Rue Haëdo, prolonging the Rue de la Victoire, leads to the S.W. to the Porte de Fez (Pl. A, 4). In the Rue Sidi-Brahim, the first side-street on the left, is the—