Djémila

Djémila is a town in Northeast Algeria that holds some of the best preserved Roman ruins in North Africa. The ruins are a.

Understand
Under the name of Cuicul, the city was built 900 m above sea level during the 1st century AD as a Roman military garrison situated on a narrow triangular plateau in the province of Numidia. The terrain is somewhat rugged, being located at the confluence of two rivers. Cuicul's builders followed a standard plan with a forum at the center and two main streets, the Cardo Maximus and the Decumanus Maximus, composing the major axes. The city was initially populated by a colony of Roman soldiers from Italy, and eventually grew to become a large trading market. During the reign of Caracalla in the 3rd century, Cuicul's administrators took down some of the old ramparts and constructed a new forum. They surrounded it with larger and more impressive edifices than those that bordered the old forum. The terrain hindered building, so that they built the theatre outside the town walls, which was exceptional.

The city was slowly abandoned after the fall of the Roman Empire around the 5th century and 6th century. There were some improvements under emperor Justinian I, with wall reinforcements. Muslims later dominated the region, but did not reoccupy the site of Cuicul, which they renamed Djémila ("beautiful" in Arabic).

Get in
There is a loosely-enforced rule that you need a permit and an escort to visit the Djémila ruins, particularly if you are a foreigner. You can often talk your way out of both (or have your driver talk you out of them for you) if you simply show up to the site, although there are reports of people being denied entry without the proper paperwork. Permits can supposedly be obtained in Constantine or Sétif at a local police station, however they may say you do not need a permit (while the guard at the site will insist that you do). The police and/or the guard may also insist you go as part of a tour group. This is easier said than done. If you visit various travel/tour agencies in Constantine or Sétif, you may be able jump on a tour that is already scheduled to depart (you will likely have better luck in Constantine, since that city receives more tourists). In all, just showing up is a risk, but then the paperwork to make things official can be a pain, so you'll just have to pick your poison. If you are already part of an organised tour, then you won't need to worry about any of this.

By car
From Constantine, you can arrange a private driver for about €40 round trip including wait-time (as of 2013), or less than that if you are staying in Djémila. The drive from Constantine takes about two hours one way.

By bus
Buses and shared taxis from Constantine go to Sétif or El Eulma. From one of these cities you can arrange a driver to take you to Djémila. El Eulma will be the cheaper option, as it is only 20 km from Djémila, whereas Sétif is 50 km away.

Get around
The town is small and walkable (at least in the part near the ruins). The ruins are also walkable within a few hours, although note the terrain is hilly.

Within the ruins
The entrance gate is to the south of the ruins on the north edge of town. Entrance costs DA130. You can obtain a guide (almost certainly French/Arabic-speaking only) at the entrance gate for about DA700 (you may be forced to do this – there are no signs or information in the ruins so this may be a good idea anyway). The main road within the ruins is the cardo maximus, which begins about 100 m north of the entrance gate and runs northwest, downhill and through the centre of the old city.

Do

 * Hiking. There are hiking trails to the southeast of town with fantastic viewpoints.

Buy
In the centre of town, near the Hotêl Cuicul, there are several small supermarkets.

Eat
There are restaurants scattered along the main street in the centre of town. There is no food available within the ruins.

Sleep
Accommodation in Djémila is simple and not necessarily clean. On the bright side, it is cheap.

Go next

 * Sétif – a pleasant-enough city with some barely-visible Roman ruins
 * Constantine – one of Algeria's must-see cities, famous for its setting and its bridges