Features

The M'zab Valley of Algeria

Many of the living areas of Algeria are examples of building that works within the structure of nature's natural space. One such area is the M'zab a limestone plateau that has been inhabited since the 10th century. The Berbers were the first to locate to the region where most live in the surrounding rock out cropping. In the 11th century, the Ibai Kharjite imams rule the area with a form Muslim theocracy that still has a very small influence today on the people of the area.

Algeria: In Search of Mosques and Museums

Make no mistake, Algiers is a great place to visit. To visit a pirate stronghold in itself would be interesting and moreover, there were also many sights to see inside the city. The architecture, influenced by the Ottoman genius Sinan, was the best represented in the mosques of Algiers, like the Mosque of Djamaa Djedid.

Algeria: Belly Dancing Etiquette Among the Mosques

You may be surprised to have belly dancing on your menu in addition to dinner while dining in a restaurant in Marrakech, Morocco or Casablanca. For the locals, it's just another steamy night in Algiers. As a stranger in a strange land, you may not know how to act (or react) at a restaurant in which live belly dancing is part of the ambiance. Many foreigners just don't know what is proper and acceptable in regards to enjoying this unique form of entertainment.

Barbary Coast Pirates - Algeria

When we think of pirates, the vision that comes to mind is those swashbuckling gents traveling through the Mediterranean Ocean searching for treasure and living the adventurous life upon the high seas. However, if one was to look at the history of the Barbary Coast, you will see a time and place that dates back hundreds of years and held little of the adventurous romanticism that Hollywood has created of the pirate lore.

Algeria's Timgad Ruins

What do a city built in the second century A.D., archeological adventurers and city planners have in common; the ancient city of Timgad. This ancient city that was built by the Romans using the grid plan (the streets are set at a right angle to one another) that is now in use in almost every major city in the world. It also boasts some of the best preserved examples of Roman architecture that were built by the emperor Trajan.

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