23 M. _Zurich_ (263 ft.). The thriving village of that name, with a fine
avenue of plane-trees, lies about 1½ M. to the S. of the station and is
inhabited chiefly by natives, who cultivate oranges and vines. The great
Thursday market is well attended by the Beni Menasser (see below).
Beyond Zurich the train runs to the W. of the Cherchell highroad. To the
left lies the _Cherchell Aqueduct_ (p. 243), while to the right Jebel
Chenoua may be seen. 24 M. _Bled Bakora_; 25½ M. _Bou-Hamoud_; 27½ M.
_Oued-Bellah_.
30½ M. =Cherchell= or _Cherchel_ (108 ft.; Grand-Hôtel or Hôt. Nicolas,
R. 2½, déj. or D. 2½ fr., plain but good, Hôt. Juba, humble, both in the
Place Romaine; Hôt. de Valence; pop. 6800, incl. 4700 Mohammedans), a
pleasant little seaport, lies on a narrow limestone plateau, an old
coast-terrace, at the foot of green hills (750–800 ft.). Behind these
hills rises a mountainous region, once well wooded, inhabited by the
Berber tribe of the _Beni Menasser_.
Cherchell occupies the site of the ancient Phœnician colony of _Iol_.
From the year 25 B. C. it took the name of _Caesarea_, and in the
Roman imperial age it became the capital of Mauretania and residence
of Juba II. (25 B. C. to 22 A. D.), one of the most learned and
enlightened men of his time, under whom it rapidly rose to importance.
Under Emp. Claudius it became the provincial capital, under the name
of _Colonia Claudia Caesarea_, of Mauretania Cæsariensis, and in
rivalry with Carthage and Hippo Regius (p. 309) grew to be one of the
greatest and wealthiest cities of N. Africa. After the erection of
Mauretania Sitifensis (p. 271) into a new province the prosperity of
Cæsarea began to wane. About 371 its art and industry were almost
annihilated by its capture and pillage by the Donatists (p. 172) under
the Berber prince Firmus, and it lost the last vestige of its ancient
glory when the Vandals transferred their residence to Carthage. In the
10th cent. the town is mentioned under the name of _Cherchell_, but
from the 11th cent. onwards it was entirely deserted. At length, at
the end of the 15th cent., it was revived by Andalusian Moors, who
brought with them their famed potter’s art. In 1516 it was occupied by
Horuk Barbarossa (p. 221), in 1531 it was unsuccessfully attacked by
Admiral Andrea Doria (p. 115), and lastly, after being taken by the
French, it was enclosed by a wall in 1843. As the harbour affords but
little shelter the town has now little or no trade.
Archæologists may like to examine the scanty remains of the _Roman
Fortifications_ (2735 by 1640 yds.), which extend over the crest of the
hill-range with its fine views; but the chief attraction is the Museum
of sculptures of the period of Juba II., which form the only certain
memorials of ancient Cæsarea, ‘an oasis of Greek culture in the midst of
the Berbers’.
The PLACE ROMAINE or ESPLANADE forms the nucleus of the little town.
Among the trees here rises a _Marble Fountain_, composed of Roman
architectural fragments found in the environs, remains perhaps of a
palace of king Juba’s era (the four colossal masks are copies; see
below). The Corinthian column and fragments of other columns at the back
of the fountain were excavated in the Roman theatre (p. 246). The
parapet of the Place Romaine affords a survey of the harbour (p. 247).
On the E. side of the Place Romaine rises the new *=Museum=, which
consists of four galleries enclosing a central court. Among the
sculptures exhibited here are admirable replicas of famous Greek works
of the archaic and of the culminating periods of Greek art (5–4th
cent.), which were executed by Greek masters for the adornment of king
Juba’s residence. Adm. at any time; the custodian (½–1 fr.) shows also
the Thermes de l’Ouest (see below). Catalogue (1902), 3 fr.;
conservator, M. A. Munkel.
Passing through the ENTRANCE ROOM (S.W. Pavilion; busts, statues,
etc.) we enter the—
SALLE BERBRUGGER (S. Gallery). 31. Marble statue of Venus; *1. Athena
(torso), a copy in marble of a famous bronze by _Alcamenes_ (5th
cent.); 46. Torso of a youth or Dionysus, probably after a marble
statue of the _School of Praxiteles_; 10, 13. Two torsos of Diana; 39
B. Female statue with the attributes of Ceres; 33 B. Aphrodite (or
Proserpine); several draped female statues.—In the middle of this
gallery are several marble heads on brackets: *64. Apollo, after an
archaic Attic original (early 5th cent.); 69. Juba II. as a youth;
without number, Agrippina.
SOUTH-EAST PAVILION. On the walls, mosaics (hunting-scenes, three
Graces, etc.). In the centre, 11. Onyx statuette of Diana hunting;
109. Egyptian basalt statue of a king Thutmosis; 23. Marble group of
Pan and a Satyr; 34. Venus.
The SALLE JONNART (E. Gallery) contains in glass-cases pottery, lamps,
bronzes, glass, coins, etc. In the middle, casts of statues found at
Cherchell but now in the Museum of Algiers.—We now cross the CENTRAL
COURT, with interesting architectural specimens, to the—
SALLE VICTOR WAILLE (W. Gallery). 19. Hercules, after an original of
the 5th cent.; *7. Dionysus; 19. Æsculapius, both after originals of
the 4th cent.; *17G. Shepherd, replica of a work of _Praxiteles_; 21,
22. Two torsos of Hermes; *47. Torso of a youth.
NORTH-WEST PAVILION. In the middle, draped female statue (Muse?),
found in the theatre; numerous inscriptions; fragments of sculpture
and architecture.
SALLE CAGNAT (N. Gallery). *39. Colossal female statue after a model
by _Phidias_; 37. Canephor (archaic); 38. Hermaphrodite and a Satyr
(Hellenistic). On the N. wall on brackets: Four colossal masks from
king Juba’s palace mentioned above (_Pergamenian School_; 1st cent.).
NORTH-EAST PAVILION. Inscriptions; several objects of Punic origin. In
the centre, 68. Bust of Augustus; 49B. Muse.—Leaving this room by a
door in the N. wall we enter a—
COURT containing sarcophagi and numerous architectural fragments.
Leaving the Museum we cross the Place Romaine to its W. side, where we
follow the third side-street (from the N.) to the W. and soon reach on
the right, nearly opposite a little mosque, the *=Thermes de l’Ouest=
(W. Baths), dating from the 2nd or 3rd cent., the grandest Roman ruins
in the town, with walls still rising to a height of 10–13 ft. (concrete
faced with brick) and bits of old mosaic pavement. Most of the antiques
in the museum were found in these baths, in which they seem to have been
collected in the early-Christian period.
The ancient _Portico_, on the E. side of the baths, once with granite
columns 26 ft. high, is now embedded in the building of the
Manutention, and on the S. side are several chambers hidden under the
Prison Civile.
From the present entrance on the S. E. side we first come to a suite
of five important chambers. The central hall, 26 by 16 yds., was
probably the _Frigidarium_, which was flanked on three sides with
smaller basins (piscinæ). The two narrow passages behind the S. and
the N. basins show traces of the stairs that once ascended to the
upper story.
On the W. side of the frigidarium is a room supposed to have been the
_Tepidarium_, which, like its side-rooms, is accessible only by
climbing over the walls. The hall behind the tepidarium, with its
semicircular niche, was apparently the _Caldarium_.
The Baths command a delightful view of the sea and of the coast to the
W., as far as Cape Ténès (p. 209).
Proceeding from the Thermes de l’Ouest we take the side-street at the
mosque mentioned at p. 245 to the S. and reach the RUE DE TÉNÈS, the
principal street of the town which leads to the W. (right) to the Porte
de Ténès (see below). We, however, turn to the E. (left) and then follow
the Rue du Centre, the first S. side-street. In the first side-street of
the last, on the right, is the entrance to the famous old CHIEF MOSQUE
‘of the hundred columns’, completed in 1573, now the _Military
Hospital_. Into the original ‘house of prayer’ a corridor and four
hospital dormitories have been built; the antique columns, which are
said to have been brought from the W. Baths, have been disfigured by a
coating of paint.
At the S. end of the Rue du Centre, on the right, is a brick wall, the
sole relic of the Roman _Thermes du Centre_.
A few paces to the left, on the hill-side above the Rue du Caire, are
the remains of the _Roman Theatre_, unearthed in 1905. The E.
side-entrance (parodos), between the stage and the auditorium, still
exists, but the 27 tiers of seats were used for building the
neighbouring barracks in 1845.
The _Barracks of the Tirailleurs_, on the hill above the theatre,
stand on six antique _Cisterns_, once fed by the Cherchell aqueduct
(p. 243). Passing through the Porte de Miliana, the S. gate behind the
barracks, we may now follow a path through the fields to the ruined
walls of the _Roman Circus_, once over 435 yds. long, which still lay
within the ancient town-walls.
Outside the _Porte de Ténès_ (comp. above), the W. town-gate, on the
old Gunugu (Gouraya) road, lay several _Roman Burial Grounds_. A
collection of objects unearthed here has been made by the commandant,
_M. Archambeau_, at his country-seat ½ M. from the gate.
From the Roman Theatre we follow the winding street to the N. and reach
the S. side of the Place Romaine at the _Catholic Church_, built in the
pseudo-classical style. In front of the high-altar and at the end of the
left aisle are two early-Christian mosaics.
We may go down to the =Harbour=, either from the Place Romaine or viâ
the W. Baths (p. 245), passing a large _Roman Basin_ (piscina) and a
ruined _Turkish Fort_ of Horuk Barbarossa (p. 221).
The very shallow harbour, scarcely 5 acres in area, lying behind the
fortified _Ilot Joinville_ with its lighthouse, is probably identical
with the _Roman Naval Harbour_, where part of the Alexandrian and Syrian
fleet was always stationed to defend the coast against pirates. The
short pier at the point of the lighthouse-island and an old embankment
on the cliffs on the E. side of the bay protected the ancient
_Commercial Harbour_.
To the E. of the Place Romaine and the Porte d’Alger, at the S.E. angle
of the Champ de Manœuvres, are relics of the _Thermes de l’Est_ (E.
Baths), including part of the chief hall, 22 by 13 yds., with two
niches.
From the highroad, 5 min. to the E. of the drilling-ground, a short path
to the right leads to the foundation walls of the _Roman Amphitheatre_,
overgrown with dense scrub. Since 1845 the ruins have served as a
quarry.