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Constantine قسنطينة |
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History The city was originally created by the Phoenicians, who called it Sarim Batim (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 Jugurtha who 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. Conquered 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 7th century, receiving the name of Qusantina. The city recovered and in 12th century was again a prosperous market, with connection 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 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 center of the Constantine Département. In World War II, during the campaign in North Africa (1942–43), Constantine and the nearby city of Sétif were used by the Allied forces 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. For this, he received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. 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 and find a cure for malaria in animals.Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine,_Algeria Other information from another source: http://www.apc-constantine.gov.dz/ Built 3000 BC, the city of Cirta was the capital of the kingdom of Numidian king Masinissa. Ancient Cirta, or Kirtha, it is destroyed by Maxence during an insurrection, then raised by Emperor Constantin in 311, who named it after his name. Occupied by the Vandals around 431, it passes under the Byzantine Middle Ages. Later on, its name takes the Arabic form of Ksantina (or Qacentina in Anglo-Saxon spelling). Under the Ottoman and Muslim rule, the city takes a cultural, scientific and religious dimension. It is difficult to determine the time of the first settlement of Turks in Constantine. The authority of the Turks was not easily established. Supporters of the Hafsids, at the beginning of 1568, the Turks massacred and expelled their minions. The Pasha Mohammed had to restore order, lead an expedition in person against Constantine. The city could not resist and opened the doors. The Abd el-Moumene, leaders of the Hafsid party in Constantine, were finally defeated and the Ouled Saoula apart. Constantine was chosen in the sixteenth century to be the capital of the Eastern Beylik. |
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