Timgad

About Timgad

Today´s Timgad, a village elevated at 1098 m above sea, with a population of 300 people, mostly shepherds, looks like a common village. However, in the ancient times this region used to be proud of fertile soil and production of grain and excellent olive oil. The accurate position of Thamugadi, a Roman town, in part buried under the Sahara sand, was successfully kept in secret by the ancestors of the present shepherds.

History

Timgad used to be a Roman colonial Roman city. It was founded by the Roman Emperor Traianus in 100 A.D. as a military colony which was greatly developing. During the centuries the city became a centre of Christianity, it was conquered several times, in the 7th century , after a disastrous fire, abandoned - and totally forgotten for a very, very long time. In 1881 it was discovered by archaeologists and in 1982 inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

UNESCO Site

Excavations brought back to life the central part of the former Roman city, with an elegant forum built on a platform with a colonnade, directed diagonally to the theatre for 4000 spectators. The main street is led to the Traianus´s Arch, which is the most majestic monument in Timgad. It comprises three entrances, two imitation windows and four Corinth columns. Antique decorations on the were not preserved, though. Not far from the Traianus´s Arch, the remnants of former "Sertius´s fair" were found. It used to be a sheltered fair ground. There used to be a little square in the middle, lined with stone desks. The columns supporting the roof , and many shops have been perfectly preserved, and various pictures carved in the stone indicate the goods which had been sold here. Just a few meters from here you can come across two out of five Corinth columns from the face of the temple consecrated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Remnants of 14 baths and several houses were excavated, decorated with mosaics. You can look at them in the local museum. The excavation work in Timgad was begun by the French in 1981 and they are far from finished. Typical Roman buildings the amphitheater and the circus - are yet to be discovered.