Between the Rue Berthe and Fort St. Germain (Pl. B, C, 1, 2), the nucleus of the town, built in 1849–51, runs the Grande Allée past the Jardin Public, which, on its N.E. side, is adjoined by the Jardins de la Garnison.
The Rue Berthe leads to the Avenue Delacroix (Pl. C, 3), the favourite haunt of guides and hawkers, where, at its junction with the Square Dufourg, rises a bronze statue of Card. Lavigerie (Pl. 2, C, 3; p. [346]), the benefactor of Biskra.
The belvedere of the Royal Hotel (p. [279]), 92 ft. high, resembling a minaret (visitors kindly admitted), commands an excellent *Panorama of the town and its environs, finest in the early morning, or towards sunset, when the Ahmar-Khaddou (‘rosy cheek’; p. [284]) is bathed in a ruddy glow.
The Casino Dar-Diaf (Pl. B, C, 4; ‘house of the guests’), built by A. Ballu (p. [289]) in the neo-Moorish style in 1892–3, is the fashionable evening resort.
The Mairie (Pl. B, 2), the small Mosque (Pl. B, 3), and other public buildings are situated between the Rue Berthe and the quiet Boul. Carnot (Pl. A, B, 2, 3), which joins the Avenue Delacroix at the Casino.
The Marché (Pl. B, 3) presents a busy and picturesque scene, especially in the early morning, which will interest new-comers. The motley throng of traders, many of them Mozabites (p. [216]), offer the art-industrial products of the Berber tribes of the Aurès and the Sahara, besides Moroccan wares and ‘Oriental’ articles made in Europe, at unduly high prices. The fruit and vegetable market affords evidence of the fertility of the oases. The Marché aux Bestiaux is held in the Boul. Carnot on Mondays.
Camel caravans from the Sahara may be seen at the Fondouks (Pl. A, 3), the inns of the natives on the Route des Zibans.
The quite modern Village-Nègre (Pl. C, 4; comp. p. [181]) is very dirty and uninteresting.
A few hundred yards to the S. of the town, between the Route de Touggourt and the Route de Sidi-Okba, is the Villa de Bénévent or Jardin Landon (Pl. C, 5; adm. 2 fr.), a creation of Count Landon (p. [305]), the beautiful *Grounds of which are stocked with a marvellous profusion of tropical and subtropical plants, and afford a delightful shady retreat in hot weather.
The great attraction in the nearer environs is *Old Biskra (Vieux-Biskra; see inset Map, at p. [279]), with its clay-built oasis-villages (ksar, pl. ksûr) inhabited by Biskris (p. [280]), and its oasis 3 M. long by 110–550 yds. wide, with some 150,000 date-palms and 6000 fruit-trees (apricots, figs, oranges), besides corn-fields and small kitchen-gardens. The palms, being well watered from the Barrage (p. [279]), are well grown and beautifully green; the dates, however, have less flavour than those of the Oued Rhir (p. [285]), the Djerid (p. [386]), and particularly those of the Souf (p. [285]). The traveller may induce a native (20–30 c.) to show him one of the palm-gardens, or he may be satisfied with a glimpse at them over the low mud-walls or through gaps.