El Kantara (''El Kantara'' "الكنترة" word comes from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Centuriation Centuriation (in Latin ''centuriatio'' or, more usually, ''limitatio''), also known as Roman grid, was a method of land measurement used by the Romans. In many cases land divisions based on the survey formed a field system, often referred to in m ...

" ( Derja: meaning a bridge) ) is a town and commune in

Biskra Province Biskra (, Berber: ⴱⴻⵙⴽⵔⴰ) is a province (''wilaya'') of Algeria. Its capital is Biskra. It is located on the northern edge of the Algerian Sahara, south of the Atlas Mountains. Geographically, Biskra Province is arid, but oases and ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. The 1911

Baedeker Verlag Karl Baedeker, founded by Karl Baedeker on 1 July 1827, is a German publisher and pioneer in the business of worldwide travel guides. The guides, often referred to simply as "List of Baedeker Guides, Baedekers" (a term sometimes used to re ...

travel guide described it as "one of the most important caravan-stations in E. Algeria." The town is well known for the eponymous

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

nearby, described by locals as the "Mouth of the Desert". The gorge is narrow, at only wide, but the walls can be as high as .

History

Roman soldiers of the Third Augustan Legion dubbed the gorge ''Calceus Herculis'' (English: Hercules' Kick), in reference to the

divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

' legendary strength. They also constructed an arched bridge over the river in the bottom of the gorge, in order to allow caravans and military supplies to pass through the town with ease. In the second century A.D., the town and bridge were guarded by

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

archers Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

who are thought to have planted the first

date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...

grove in the region.

Present infrastructure

A highway and railroad follow the same path as the ancient

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

through the town.

Notable people

* Saïd Chengriha, senior military leader

Gallery

File:Le Pont romain.jpg, above the Roman bridge in Katara Gorge File:Pont Romain El Kantara (Biskra).jpg, below the bridge Image:El Kantara gorges 1899.jpg, El Kantara File:El Kantara Biskra Algerie.JPG

References

External links

Images of El-Kantara
(including bridge and mosque) in Manar al-Athar digital heritage photo archive resource Les grandes Familles d'origine Arabe d'El Kantara sont : ABDELAZIZE, BELLAL, HOUFANI, KHIREDDINE, SAADLAOUD, SOURI, YOUB et ZEROUG. Le reste des familles sont d'origine Berbère. Communes of Biskra Province Biskra Province {{Biskra-geo-stub