47. From Constantine to Philippeville.
54 M. Railway in 3–4¾ hrs. (9 fr. 75, 7 fr. 30, 5 fr. 35 c.). Railway Restaurant at Col-des-Oliviers.
Constantine, see p. [297]. Running to the N., the line pierces the Rocher Sidi M’Cid (p. [302]) by tunnels, proceeds high above Hammam Sidi M’Cid (p. [302]) and the Rhumel, with a splendid retrospect of Constantine, and then curves round to (4½ M.) Le Hamma (1614 ft.), station for the Oasis du Hamma, a luxuriantly fertile dale with countless fruit-trees, watered by the Hamma and several springs.
8 M. Bizot (1805 ft.). It then descends to the Oued Smendou, a tributary of the Rhumel, and ascends its right bank to (17 M.) Condé-Smendou (1838 ft.).
We cross several feeders of the Oued Safsaf (see below) and pass through the Hills of El-Kantour in several tunnels, below the pass of that name, now called also Col-des-Oliviers.
25½ M. Col-des-Oliviers (1365 ft.; Rail. Restaurant), station for a group of small villages inhabited by immigrant farmers. Thence a steep, winding descent, in a hill-region denuded of its forest, to (31 M.) Bougrina, like Robertville, a station for the large village of El-Arrouch.
35½ M. Robertville (348 ft.; several inns), a village on the Oued Ahmar, is the starting-point of the fine hill-roads through the Massif de Philippeville viâ (23 M.) Bordj Tamalous to (40 M.) Collo (p. [131]; diligence twice daily in 8 hrs.), and to Djidjelli (p. [267]; motor-omnibus, see p. [267]).
The train now descends into the valley of the Oued Safsaf, where wild olives, poplars, and cork-trees abound.
42½ M. St. Charles (138 ft.; Hôt. du Lion d’Or), the oldest farming settlement in the district, founded by Germans and Belgians in 1840, was at first defended by four small forts.
From St. Charles to Bona, 61½ M., railway in 4–5 hrs. (7 fr. 50, 5 fr. 5, 4 fr. 5 c.). 9 M. Râs el-Ma, with a quicksilver-mine; 15½ M. Jemmapes (312 ft.; Hôt. d’Orient; pop. 2800), on the Oued Fendek, a little town founded in 1848, the chief place on the roads from Philippeville to Bona and to Guelma (p. [308]); 19½ M. Oued-Hammimine, a small bath-hotel (pens. with bath 6 fr.), with three hot sulphur-springs (95–115° Fahr.; season Sept.–Nov. only); 41 M. Aïn-Mokra (85 ft.), on a slope near the malarious flats of Lac Fetzara, a swamp of about 35,000 acres, and the now abandoned iron-mines of the Comp. du Mokta el-Hadid; 45½ M. Aïn-Daliah, for the new mine of Marouania belonging to the same company. 61½ M. Bona, see p. [309].
We descend the narrow Safsaf valley to (47½ M.) Safsaf. 50½ M. Damrémont (33 ft.) is the station also for Valée (122 ft.), a village on the vine-clad right bank, on the Bona and Guelma road (see above).—The train leaves the Safsaf, crosses its tributary Oued Zeramna (p. [305]), and passes through a tunnel under the W. slope of Mont Skikda (p. [304]).
54 M. Philippeville.—The Station (Pl. C, 2; no buffet) is not far from the quay, a few paces from Place de Marqué.
Arrival by Sea (comp. RR. 20, 22). The steamers of the Gén. Transatlantique (agent, Fauré, Place de Marqué) moor at the quay; those of the Transports Maritimes (agent, Caffa) and of the Navigation Mixte (agents, Daprela & Campiglia, Place du Commerce) anchor in the Grande Darse (Pl. C, D, 1). Cab-fares, see below. Portefaix (porter) for articles under 20 kilos (44 lbs.) to the station 25, to the town 40 c.; trunk 50 or 75 c.
Hotels (comp. p. [174]). Grand-Hôtel (Pl. a; C, 2), Place de Marqué, with fine views, R. 3–5, déj. 2½, D. 3, pens. 8½ fr., good; Hôt. Foy, same square (Pl. B, 2), new, R. 3–6 fr., B. 60 c., déj. or D. 2½, pens. from 8 fr.; Hôt. de France & de la Marine (Pl. b; B, 2), same square, No. 3, R. 2–3, B. ¾, déj. 2½, D. 3 fr.; Hôt. Léger, Rue Nationale, R. 2–5, B. ¾, déj. 2½, D. 3, pens. 6–7 fr., plain but good; Nouvelle Poste (Pl. d; B, 2), Place du Commerce, Cinq Nations (Pl. e; C, 3), Rue de Constantine, corner of Rue Gambetta, both plain.
Cafés-Restaurants. Café de Foy, at the hotel (see above); Boutin, Plage du Château-Vert (in summer).
Post & Telegraph Office (Pl. 5; B, 2), Place du Commerce.
Banks. Banque de l’Algérie, Avenue du Troisième-Zouaves; Comp. Algérienne and Crédit Lyonnais, Rue Nationale 30 and 51.
Baths in the Grand-Hôtel; also Tenienski, Rue Buffon.—Sea Baths. Bassin du Château-Vert (see below); at Stora (p. [306]), etc.
Theatre. Théâtre Municipal (Pl. 7; B, C, 3), Place Corneille (sometimes Italian pieces).—Band on Sun. in the Place de Marqué.
Cabs (stand, Place Corneille). Drive 1 fr.; first hr. 2½, each addit. hr. 2 fr.; half-day 10, whole day 18 fr.—Diligence to Stora (50 c.), St. Antoine (25 c.), etc.
British Vice-Consul, W. H. Miller, Rue Téophile Réguis.
Philippeville (Arabic Skikda; pop. 26,000, incl. 16,000 Europeans, mostly Italians and Maltese, and 4800 Mohammedans), the youngest Algerian seaport, was founded by Marshal Valeé in 1838 as a harbour for Constantine. It lies on the fine Gulf of Stora (p. [128]), about 1 M. to the W. of the mouth of the Safsaf (p. [303]), in a ravine between Mont Skikda (548 ft.) to the E. and Jebel Bou Yala to the S.W. Its site is that of the ancient Rusicade, once a Phœnician town, but founded anew by the Romans in 45 B.C. Under the empire, as the Colonia Veneria Rusicade, it belonged to the league of Cirta (p. [298]), but, according to local tradition, it had ceased to exist by 484. The chief harbour in the gulf, being well sheltered, was formerly the neighbouring Asthoret, now Stora (p. [306]), but it has been superseded by that of Philippeville, constructed in 1860–80 at a cost of some 20 million francs.
The Harbour, after Bona (p. [309]) the chief outlet for the produce of the province of Constantine, consists of an excellent inner basin of 50 acres (Grande Darse; Pl. C, D, 1) and an Avant-Port (Pl. A, B, 1) of 75 acres. The Grande Jetée du Nord (Pl. D, 1), running out from Cape Skikda, is 1 M., the Jetée du Château-Vert (Pl. A, 1), on the W. side, ¼ M. in length.
The best points for viewing the harbour and bay are the Place de Marqué (Pl. B, C, 2; popularly Pl. de la Marine), the pretty Petit Bois or Jardin de l’Hôpital (Pl. C, 2), adjacent on the E., and the lofty Place des Zouaves (Pl. D, 2, 3; drilling-ground).
Past the Place de Marqué runs the Rue Nationale (Pl. B, C, 2–4), the main street, connecting the chief gates, the N.W. Porte de Stora (Pl. B, 2) and the S. Porte de Constantine (Pl. C, 4), whence issue the Constantine, Bona, and Guelma roads. The narrow gorge affords room for only a few parallel streets. The side-streets ascend the hill-sides partly in steps.
The Théâtre Municipal (Pl. 7; B, C, 3), in the narrow Place du Commerce, on the W. side of the Rue Nationale, stands on the foundations of a Roman temple. A little farther, on the E. side of the street, is the pretty Square Carnot (Pl. C, 3).—To the W. from this square the Rue Gambetta leads to the Collège Communal (Pl. B, 3). On the N.E. slope of Jebel Bou Yala, behind the school (apply to the concierge here, 30–50 c.) lies the—
Roman Theatre, the largest in Algeria, erected at the earliest under Hadrian; but as it was used as a quarry for building the modern town, little of it is now left. Of the cavea, 90 yds. wide, which held 5–6000 spectators, only a few steps, two passages, and relics of vaulting remain. The stage is below the school-building.
From the Rue Gambetta the Rue Valée (Pl. B, C, 3, 4) leads through the heart of the Mohammedan quarter to the Rue St. Augustin and the—
Museum (Pl. 3; C, 4). The collections include some valuable Roman antiquities. Adm. daily, 8–6; Sun. and Thurs. free; on other days 1 fr.; catalogue (1901) 1 fr. 10 c.; curator, M. L. Bertrand.
The Garden contains numerous Roman columns, statues, etc.
The Pavillon Central has archæological collections on the groundfloor. In the centre, 173. Roman milestone, from Hadrian’s road from Rusicade to Cirta (p. [298]); 151. Antoninus Pius, in marble. In the first wall-press are objects from Roman tombs, mostly from Rusicade; 687. Genius, a statuette in marble. Detached, 749. Punic tomb-stela. In the second wall-press, Roman vases and lamps; also, *805. Bust of a youth, after an Attic work of the age of Praxiteles; 806. Bust of Agrippina the Elder; 778. Punic stela of the goddess Tanit, from Carthage; 779. Mithras stone; 783. Boy’s head; 904. Clay statuette of a woman bathing; 968. Bust of Hadrian. By the following end-wall, Roman inscriptions and altars. At the other end, one early-Christian (293) and two late-Roman sarcophagi (224, 331), Roman inscriptions, etc.—The 1st Floor contains ethnographical and natural history collections and pictures.
The Pavillon Nord contains coins and medals, the Pavillon Sud a small collection of weapons and flags.
Excursions. Bearing a little to the left from the Porte de Constantine (see above), we cross the large Place des Chameaux (Pl. D, 4), where an interesting Cattle Market is held on Thursday mornings, and then follow the S. slope of Mont Skikda (p. [304]), past the Cemetery, to (½ hr.) the Château Landon or Domaine des Lions, which has a beautiful garden. (Visitors require the permission of M. Gallard, the superintendent, Rue Galbois.)
The St. Charles (and Constantine) road leads through the Faubourg de l’Espérance in the fertile dale of the Oued Zeramna, past the (2½ M.) Ecole Pratique d’Agriculture, to the prettily situated village of (3¾ M.) St. Antoine (33 ft.; diligence 25 c.).
From St. Antoine we may visit, viâ the Route de Praxbourg, the Oued Amida, or upper valley of the Zeramna, a hill-region where cork-tree plantations abound, and a favourite resort of wild-boar and jackal hunters. Or we may follow the Chemin de la Carrière Romaine across the Col Chambœuf, on Jebel Soubouyou (1050 ft.), to Damrémont (p. [303]).
To the W. of the Porte de Constantine a picturesque road leads viâ Montplaisant to the dale of Beni Melek, famed for its wine. We may return thence viâ the Porte des Citernes (Pl. A, 3) and Rue d’Orléans, or descend the Chemin du Beni-Melek to the Route de Stora.
For a visit to Stora we may take the *Route de la Corniche, the beautiful new shore-road which starts from the Place de Marqué (Pl. B, C, 2) and at places is tunnelled through the living rock (ca. 2 M.; diligence). Or we may follow the picturesque Route de Stora (2½ M.), the old upper road, beginning at the Stora Gate (p. [305]). Stora, a fishing-village with sea-baths, is now inhabited chiefly by Italians. The fine view hence extends to Jebel Filfila and the Cap de Fer (p. [131]). On the steep shore are fragments of an Aqueduct, partly underground, and several Cisterns (restored), relics of the Roman Asthoret (p. [304]). A vault now used as a laundry probably belonged to a Nymphaeum or fountain.