BOUSSAADA
GUIDED SCIENTIFIC VISITE
The visit will focus on a brief presentation of the major geological groups of northern Algeria, the deformations of rocks and fossils. We will see an old foggara and the Albian-age sandstone reservoir of the city of Eddis, 10 km from Boussaâda. During this excursion we will have the opportunity to visit a gypsum farm, the small oasis of Eddis, the museum of the painter Nacer Eddine Dinet, Oued Boussaâda with the former places of the Moulin Ferrerro and the Zaouia of El Hamel.
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF BOUSSAADA
BOUSSAADA is a town of the MSILA wilaya, located 241 km southeast of Algiers. The city is also nicknamed « city of happiness », or « door of the desert » for being the closest oasis to the coast. Engravings and rock drawings testify to the human presence in prehistoric times. During the Numidian period, this region was a natural basin dedicated to hunting. There were found some Roman-type ruins of the Numidian era. The city is surrounded by the mountain of KERDADA (ⴽⴻⵕⴷⴰⴷⴰ) in Tamazight meaning « the feet of my father ». BouSaada was founded by Berbers Sanhadja tribes of Andalusian origin. Consensus was established with OULED NAIL, a large ZENETE-CHAOUI tribe inhabiting the entire region of HODNA, who soon became inhabitant of BOUSSAADA and brought their know-how while establishing the Berber culture of the CHAOUI country. The founding father of this city is Sidi THAMEUR, a great figure of Islamic sciences. The city is an important trading center for wool and sheep. BOUSSAADA CULINARY SPECIALTY is ZVITI containing traditional bread, tomato pepper and coriander mixed and pounded in an elongated wooden mortar.
