Médéa ( ber, Lemdiyyet, ar, المدية ''al-Madiya''), population 123,535 (1998 census) is the capital city of

Médéa Province Médéa ( ar, ولاية المدية) is a province ('' wilaya'') of Algeria. The capital is Médéa. Administrative divisions The province is divided into 19 districts ('' daïras''), which are further divided into 64 ''communes'' or municip ...

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

. It is located roughly 68 km south of Algiers. The present-day city is situated on the site of an ancient Roman military post and has a history dating back to the 10th century. The town is French in character, with a rectangular city plan, red tile-roofed buildings, and beautiful public gardens. The hills surrounding Médéa are covered with vineyards, orchards, and farms that yield abundant grain. Médéa's chief products are wines, irrigation equipment, and various handicrafts.

Etymology

Medea is a Roman city named ad ''Medix'' or ''Media'' ("halfway" in Latin), so called because it was equidistant from Tirinadi (

Berrouaghia Berrouaghia is a town and commune in Médéa Province, Algeria. According to the 1998 census it has a population of 58,780. Notable people * Benyoucef Benkhedda - Algerian politician History Berrouaghia was during the Roman Empire called Tanara ...

) and Sufnsar ( Amourah) rest house of

Mauretania caesarean Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern present-day Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, ...

on the road linking the capital Caesarea ( Cherchell) to the colony Auzia (

Aumale Aumale (), formerly known as Albemarle," is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. It lies on the River Bresle. History The town's Latin name was ''Alba Marla''. It was raised by William t ...

History

During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

there was a settlement called Lamdia at Médéa. During the Roman Empire the town of Lamdia, was the seat of an

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...

Christian

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

of Mauretania Caesariensis. Only one bishop of the town is known. The

Donatist Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and the ...

Felix, attended the 411 Conference of Carthage. The town at that time had no Catholic bishops. Today Lamdia survives as a

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

ric of the

Roman Church Holy Roman Church, Roman Church, Church of Rome or Church in Rome may refer to: * The Diocese of Rome or the Holy See * The Latin Church * Churches of Rome (buildings) In historical contexts ''Roman Church'' may also refer to: * The Catholic Chur ...

and the current bishop is Marian Eleganti,

bishop of Chur The Bishop of Chur (German: ''Bischof von Chur'') is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur, Grisons, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Curiensis'').Berbers in the 11th century,

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

tribes of Hilal and

Sulaym The Banu Sulaym ( ar, بنو سليم) is an Arab tribe that dominated part of the Hejaz in the pre-Islamic era. They maintained close ties with the Quraysh of Mecca and the inhabitants of Medina, and fought in a number of battles against the Is ...

descent were settled in the region, mixing with and Arabicizing the local Berbers. Médéa was the capital of the Beylik of Titteri; a Bey, deputy of the Dey of Algiers, was resident there. The beylik of Titteri (chief Medea) was established in 1548. The last Bey Mostefa Boumezrag ran it from 1819 to 1830, when the French arrived. In 1837, after the Treaty of Tafna, Medea became one of the capitals of the part of Algeria ruled by

Abdelkader El Djezairi Abd al-Qadir or Abdulkadir ( ar, عبد القادر) is a male Muslim given name. It is formed from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and '' Qadir''. The name means "servant of the powerful", ''Al-Qādir'' being one of the names of God in th ...

, but was occupied by the French when they eventually took possession of the whole of Algeria. Until 1962 Médéa was a garrison town for the French army.Ted Morgan, page 59 ''My Battle of Algiers''. .

Economy

One of the largest pharmaceutical production units in Algeria (''

Saidal Saidal Group (, ) is an Algerian pharmaceutical company created in 1982. Saidal Group is the largest pharmaceutical company in Algeria and one of the largest in Africa. Saidal Group exports its products to Ivory Coast, Gabon, Senegal, Cameroon, ...

-Antibiotical'') is located in Medea. Shoe factories also established in Takbou and M'Salah. Medeaundersnow

Notable people

* Mohamed Belhocine (born 1951), Algerian medical scientist, professor of internal medicine and epidemiology. * Amine Megateli - Professional footballer *

Jean Richepin Jean Richepin (; 4 February 1849 – 12 December 1926) was a French poet, novelist and dramatist. Biography Son of an army doctor, Jean Richepin was born 4 February 1849 at Médéa, French Algeria. At school and at the École Normale Supé ...

- French poet and writer, member of Académie française * Djamel Tlemçani - Professional footballer * Daniela Skokovic - author and librarian

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medea Populated places in Médéa Province Cities in Algeria Province seats of Algeria

Etymology

History

Economy

Notable people

See also

References