Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

BOUGIE

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 316 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

BOUGIE , a seaport of See also:

Algeria, See also:chief See also:town of an See also:arrondissement in the See also:department of See also:Constantine, 120 M. E. of See also:Algiers. The town, which is defended by a See also:wall built since the See also:French occupation, and by detached forts, is beautifully situated on the slope of See also:Mount Guraya. Behind it are the heights of Mounts Babor and Tababort, rising some 6400 ft. and crowned with forests of pinsapo See also:fir and See also:cedar. The most interesting buildings in the town are the See also:ancient forts, Borj-el-Ahmer and Abd-el-Kader, and the kasbah or citadel, rectangular in See also:form, flanked by bastions and towers, and bearing See also:inscriptions stating that it was built by the Spaniards in 1545. Parts of the See also:Roman wall exist, and considerable portions of that built by the Hammadites in the 11th See also:century. The streets are very steep, and many are ascended by stairs. The See also:harbour, sheltered from the See also:east by a See also:breakwater, was enlarged in 1897-1902. It covers 63 acres and has a See also:depth of See also:water of 23 to 30 ft. Bougie is the natural See also:port of Kabylia, and under the French See also:rule its commerce—chiefly in See also:oils, wools, hides and minerals—has greatly See also:developed; a See also:branch railway runs to Beni Mansur on the See also:main See also:line from Constantine to See also:Oran. Pop. (1906) of the town, 10,419; of the See also:commune, 17,540; of the arrondissement, which includes eight communes, 37,711.

Bougie, if it be correctly identified with the Saldae of the See also:

Romans, is a town of See also:great antiquity, and probably owes its origin to the Carthaginians. See also:Early in the 5th century Genseric the Vandal surrounded it with walls and for some See also:time made it his See also:capital. En-Nasr (1062-1088), the most powerful of the See also:Berber See also:dynasty of See also:Hammad, made Bougie the seat of his See also:government, and it became the greatest commercial centre of the See also:North See also:African See also:coast, attaining a high degree of See also:civilization. From an old MS. it appears that as early as ,o68 the See also:heliograph was in See also:common use, See also:special towers, with mirrors properly arranged, being built for the purpose of signalling. The See also:Italian merchants of the 12th and 13th centuries owned numerous buildings in the See also:city, such as warehouses, See also:baths and churches. At the end of the 13th century Bougie passed under the dominion of the Hafsides, and in the 15th century it became one of the strong-holds of the See also:Barbary pirates. It enjoyed partial See also:independence under amirs of Hafside origin, but in See also:January 1510 was captured by the Spaniards under Pedro See also:Navarro. The Spaniards strongly fortified the See also:place and held it against two attacks by the corsairs See also:Barbarossa. In 1555, however, Bougie was taken by Salah See also:Rais, the See also:pasha of Algiers. See also:Leo See also:Africanus, in his Africae descriptio, speaks of the " magnificence " of the temples, palaces and other buildings of the city in his See also:day (c. 1525), but it appears to have fallen into decay not See also:long afterwards. When the French took the town from the Algerians in 1833 it consisted of little more than a few fortifications and ruins.

It is said that the French word for a See also:

candle is derived from the name of the town, candles being first made of See also:wax imported from Bougie.

End of Article: BOUGIE

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
BOUGHTON, GEORGE HENRY (1834-1905) 		[next]
BOUGUER, PIERRE (1698-1758)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries