Rachgoun is a town in northwestern

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

, in the district of Béni-Saf. It is a small coastal village at the mouth of the Tafna wadi, 7 km west of the commune capital and facing its eponymous island - Rachgoun Island - located 2 km offshore. The village is organised around two sandy beaches, Rachgoun beach crossed by the stream which flows into it, and, further east, Madrid beach, a small beach in a cove, from which it is separated by a rocky promontory.

History

The site of an old

Punic The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

trading post,It is the island of Acra to the Carthaginians and the ''Portus sigensis'' to the Romans. it has been the subject of extensive excavations, on which

Serge Lancel Serge Lancel (5 September 1928 – 9 October 2005) was a French archaeologist, historian and philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary c ...

in particular worked. It is located not far from Siga, the

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tuni ...

n capital of

Syphax Syphax (, ''Sýphax''; , ) was a king of the Masaesyli tribe of western Numidia (present-day Algeria) during the last quarter of the 3rd century BC. His story is told in Livy's ''Ab Urbe Condita'' (written c. 27–25 BC).

. In the Zianides era, Rachgun was a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...

. In 1836, the French set up a garrison on the island as well as a military establishment on the right bank of the mouth of the Tafna, southwest of the tip of the Tour Carrée.

References

Bibliography

• Achour Cheurfi, ''Dictionnaire des localités algériennes'', Algiers, Casbah Editions, 2011 {{AïnTémouchent-geo-stub Carthage Populated places in Aïn Témouchent Province Archaeological sites in Algeria Phoenician colonies in Algeria