Roman ruins visitors  
Roman ruins visitors

Since Friday is the Algerian day of rest, we organised a visit to Tipasa. In the morning, three vehicles from the Ministry of Culture are waiting for us and will drive us around for the rest of the day.


Remains of the Roman city  
Remains of the Roman city
Four of the Algerian trainees joined us for the day. The whether is magnificent, blue skies and calm seas, for the first time in several days. All along the road, that crosses the plain of Mitidja, children are selling bread, and the fruit and vegetables that are the produce of this legendarily fertile land.
The museum and the ruins along the sea were not only our intended destination; it is also the place where many Algerians chose to spend the day. The Tipasa Museum houses artefacts from the nearby site; stele, funerary assemblages and a fine collection of glass vessels fill the show cases. In pride of place is the impressive mosaic, depicting what happened to the locals that opposed the Roman overlords.


 
A jar amongst the ruins
 
A jar amongst the ruins
The ancient city, built on a terrain that slopes gently down into the sea offers remarkable views, uninterrupted by any modern buildings. Under the eucalyptus the group wanders among the ruins, the Amphitheatre, cult areas, baths, fish tanks and garum processing areas and houses all organised around the cardo and the decumanus.
At midday the curators were nice enough to lock us inside, where we settled down to a picnic lunch among the ruins followed by a short swim, all to the sounds of the prayers from the nearby Mosques.

Back in Bouzarea, a basketball game is improvised on the school court.