Timgad

Timgad, spread across the highlands of northeastern Algeria at the edge of the Aurès mountains, is one of the best-preserved Roman cities anywhere, a UNESCO World Heritage site often called the Pompeii of North Africa. Founded by the Emperor Trajan around 100 AD as a colony for army veterans, it was laid out on a perfect grid, and time and desert sands have preserved it remarkably: paved and rutted streets, the elegant Arch of Trajan, a fine theatre still used today, a forum, temples, baths, a library and thousands of homes stretch across the plain. To walk its ancient streets is to experience the ideal of a Roman town made astonishingly real.

History

The emperor Trajan founded the city as a colony in the year 100, Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi, settled largely by Roman veterans and colonists. It became a centre of Christian activity and, in the 4th century, of the Donatists; its decline began when the Vandals sacked it, and at the end of the 5th century Berber tribes from the Aurès mountains laid it waste. In 539 the Byzantine general Solomon retook and rebuilt it, but after the early Muslim conquests of the 7th century it was no longer inhabited by the 8th. The Scottish traveller James Bruce reached the ruins in 1765, probably the first European there for centuries; the French took control of the site in 1881, and UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 1982 (Wikipedia, Timgad).

What's there

• The Arch of Trajan - the elegant ceremonial Roman arch.
• The grid streets - the perfectly preserved paved city grid.
• The theatre - the fine Roman theatre in the hills.
• The forum and baths - the temples, forum, library and bathhouses.

When to go

Spring and autumn, roughly March to June and September to November, are ideal for exploring the extensive open ruins in mild highland weather, avoiding the hot summer and cold winter of the Aurès plateau. The clear light of these seasons is perfect for the honey-coloured stone and long colonnaded streets.

What to expect

Timgad is a large, open archaeological site with little shade, so exploring its streets and monuments takes time and sun protection, and it lies inland well away from the coast. As one of the best-preserved Roman cities on earth, a UNESCO World Heritage textbook of ancient town planning complete with arch, theatre and forum, though, Timgad is an extraordinary and rewarding site.

Nearby

The Roman ruins of Lambaesis and the Aurès mountains lie in the region.

Key facts