View of Constantine, in 1837
The city of Constantine has always fascinated those who approach it for the first time. No need to delve into its crevices and folds to smell the interior life and feel a form of mysticism which sends its aura beyond the city, to the outskirts of Rhumel.
The visitor who goes there from Algiers, however, cannot guess from the plain of Aïn Smara the historical jewel which awaits him nineteen kilometers further. The massif of Djebel Chettaba, culminating at the Zouaoui peak in 1316, receives abundant sunshine from its exposure to the east and announces the Old Rock from which it is only separated by the geological break which serves as the bed of Oued Rhumel.
The visitor who goes there from Algiers, however, cannot guess from the plain of Aïn Smara the historical jewel which awaits him nineteen kilometers further. The massif of Djebel Chettaba, culminating at the Zouaoui peak in 1316, receives abundant sunshine from its exposure to the east and announces the Old Rock from which it is only separated by the geological break which serves as the bed of Oued Rhumel.