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CONSTANTINE

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 3 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CONSTANTINE , a See also:

city of See also:Algeria, See also:capital of the See also:department of the same name, 54 M. by railway S. by W. of the See also:port of See also:Philippeville, in 36°22' N., 6° 36' E. Constantine is the See also:residence of a See also:general commanding a See also:division, of a See also:prefect and other high officials, is the seat of a See also:bishop, and had a See also:population in 1906 of 46,806, of whom 25,312 were Europeans. The population of the See also:commune, which includes the suburbs of Constantine, was 58,435. The city occupies a romantic position on a rocky See also:plateau, cut off on all sides See also:save the See also:west from the surrounding See also:country by a beautiful See also:ravine, through which the See also:river Rummel flows. The plateau is 2130 ft. above See also:sea-level, and from 500 to nearly l000 ft. above the river See also:bed. The ravine, formed by the Rummel, through erosion of the See also:limestone, varies greatly in width—at its narrowest See also:part the cliffs are only 15 ft. apart, at its broadest the valley is 400 yds. wide. At the N.E. See also:angle of the city the See also:gorge is spanned by an See also:iron See also:bridge (El-Kantara) built in 1863, giving See also:access to the railway station, situated on See also:Mansura See also:hill. A See also:stone bridge built by the See also:Romans, and restored at various times, suddenly gave way in 1857 and is now in ruins; it was built on a natural See also:arch, which, 184 ft. above the level of the river, spans the valley. Along the See also:north-eastern See also:side of the city the Rummel is spanned in all four times by these natural stone See also:arches or tunnels. To the north the city is commanded by the See also:Jebel Mecid, a hill which the See also:French (following the example of the Romans) have fortified. Constantine is walled, the extant See also:medieval See also:wall having been largely constructed out of See also:Roman material. Through the centre from north to See also:south runs a See also:street (the See also:rue de See also:France) roughly dividing Constantine into two parts.

The See also:

place du Palais, in which are the See also:palace of the See also:governor and the See also:cathedral, and the kasbah (citadel) are west of the rue de France, as is likewisethe place Negrier, containing the See also:law courts. The native See also:town lies chiefly in the south-See also:east part of the city. A striking contrast exists between the Moorish See also:quarter, with its tortuous lanes and See also:Oriental See also:architecture, and the See also:modern quarter, with its rectangular streets and wide open squares, frequently bordered with trees and adorned with fountains. Of the squares the place de See also:Nemours is the centre of the commercial and social See also:life of the city. Of the public buildings those dating from before the French occupation possess See also:chief See also:interest. The palace, built by Ahmed See also:Pasha, the last See also:bey of Constantine, between 183o and 1836, is one of the finest specimens of Moorish architecture of the nth See also:century. The kasbah, which occupies the See also:northern corner of the city, See also:dates from Roman times, and preserves in its more modern portions numerous remains of other Roman edifices. It is now turned into See also:barracks and a See also:hospital. ' The See also:fine See also:mosque of Sidi-el-Kattani (or Salah Bey) dates from the See also:close of the 18th century; that of Suk-er-Rezel, now transformed into a cathedral,. and called Notre-See also:Dame See also:des See also:Sept Douleurs, was built about a century, earlier. The See also:Great Mosque, or Jamaa-el-Kebir, occupies the site of what was probably an See also:ancient See also:pantheon. The mosque Sidi-el-Akhdar has a beautiful See also:minaret nearly 8o ft. high. The museum, housed in the hotel de ville, contains a fine collection of antiquities, including a famous See also:bronze statuette of the winged figure of Victory, 23 in. high, discovered in the kasbah in 1858.

A religious See also:

seminary, or medressa, is maintained in connexion with the Sidi-el-Kattani; and the French support a See also:college and various See also:minor educational establishments for both Arabic and See also:European culture. The native See also:industry of Constantine is chiefly confined to See also:leather goods and woollen fabrics. Some 1oo,000 burnouses are made annually, the finest partly of See also:wool and partly of See also:silk. There is also an active See also:trade in See also:embossing or See also:engraving See also:copper and See also:brass utensils. A considerable trade is carried on over a large See also:area by means of railway connexion with See also:Algiers, See also:Bona, See also:Tunis and See also:Biskra, as well as with Philippeville. The See also:railways, however, have taken away from the city , its See also:monopoly of the See also:traffic in See also:wheat, though its See also:share in that trade still amounts to from £400,000 to £480,000 a See also:year. Constantine, or, as it was orginally called, See also:Cirta or Kirtha, from the Phoenician word for a city, was in ancient times one of the most important towns of See also:Numidia, and the residence of the See also:kings of the Massyli. Under Micipsa (2nd century B.c.) it reached the height of its prosperity, and was able to furnish an See also:army of 1o,000 See also:cavalry and 20,000 See also:infantry. Though it afterwards declined, it still continued an important military See also:post, and is frequently mentioned during successive See also:wars.: See also:Caesar having bestowed a part of its territory on his supporter Sittius, the latter introduced a Roman See also:settlement, and the town for a See also:time was known as Colonia Sittianorum. In the See also:war of See also:Maxentius against See also:Alexander, the Numidian usurper, it was laid in ruins; and on its restoration in A.D. 313 by Constantine it received the name which it still retains. It was not captured during the Vandal invasion of See also:Africa, but on the See also:conquest by the Arabians (7th century) it shared the same See also:fate as the surrounding country.

Successive Arab dynasties looted it, and many monuments of antiquity suffered (to be finally swept away by " municipal improvements " under the French regime). During the 12th century it was still a place of considerable prosperity; and its See also:

commerce was extensive enough to attract the merchants of See also:Pisa, See also:Genoa and See also:Venice. Frequently taken and retaken by the See also:Turks, Constantine finally became under their dominion the seat of a bey, subordinate to the See also:dey of Algiers. To Salah Bey, who ruled from 1770 to 1792, we owe most of the existing Moslem buildings. In 1826 Constantine asserted its See also:independence of the dey of Algiers, and was governed by Haji Ahmed, the choice of the See also:Kabyles. In 1836 the French under See also:Marshal See also:Clausel made an unsuccessful See also:attempt to See also:storm the city, which they attacked by See also:night by way of El-Kantara. The French suffered heavy loss. In 1837 Marshal Valee approached the town by the connecting western See also:isthmus, and succeeded in taking it by See also:assault, though again the French lost heavily. Ahmed, however, escaped and maintained his independence in the Aures mountains. He submitted to the French in 1848 and died in 185o.

End of Article: CONSTANTINE

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