Bou Saada ( ar, بو سعادة, ''bu s‘adah'', meaning "place of happiness") is a town and municipality in M'Sila Province,

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, situated 245 km south of

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. As Arena it was the site of a city and bishopric in Roman Africa, now a Catholic

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

. The municipal population was estimated at 134,000 in 2008.

Geography

Bou-Saada is located in the southwest of the

Hodna The Hodna (french: Le Hodna) is a natural region of Algeria located between the Tell and Saharan Atlas ranges at the eastern end of the ''Hautes Plaines''. It is a vast depression lying in the northeastern section of M'Sila Province and the weste ...

region in the Hauts Plateaux, at the feet of the

Ouled Naïl Range The Ouled Naïl Range ( ar, سلسلة جبال أولاد نايل, french: Monts des Ouled Naïl) is a mountain range in Algeria, part of the Saharan Atlas of the greater Atlas Mountain System. The range is named after a confederation of nomadi ...

of the

Saharan Atlas Saharan may refer to: * Someone or something from the Sahara desert * Sahrawi people (also spelled Saharawi), the indigenous people of Western Sahara * Saharan languages The Saharan languages are a small family of languages across parts of the ea ...

. Bou-Saada has traditionally been an important market place producing and selling jewelry, metalwork, carpets and bousaadi knives. There is also a textile mill in town. Even in modern times, Bou-Saada is an important trading post for nomads. There is also some national tourism during winter. Bou-Saada is well-connected with other urban centres by road. M'Sila is 70 km northeast, Biskra is 175 km east, Bordj Bou Arreridj 130 km northeast and Djelfa 120 km southwest. Bou-Saada has two quarters, the old

medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

( ksar) within the city walls with arched alleyways, and the French town to the south. Surrounding the town are extensive date groves.

Climate

Bou Saada has a cold desert climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''BWk''). Rainfall is higher in winter than in summer. The average annual temperature in Bou Saada is . About of precipitation falls annually.

Ecclesiastical history

Arena was important enough in the Late Roman province of

Mauretania Caesariensis Mauretania Caesariensis (Latin for "Caesarean Mauretania") was a Roman province located in what is now Algeria in the Maghreb. The full name refers to its capital Caesarea Mauretaniae (modern Cherchell). The province had been part of the Kingd ...

to be one of the many

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

s of its capital Caesarea Mauretaniae's Metropolitan Archbishopric; discontinued as a consequence of the

Arab conquest of North Africa The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb ( ar, الْفَتْحُ الإسلَامِيُّ لِلْمَغرِب) continued the century of rapid Muslim conquests following the death of Muhammad in 632 and into the Byzantine-controlled territories of ...

Titular see

The diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as Latin Catholic titular bishopric. It has had the following incumbents, of the fitting episcopal (lowest) rank : * Luís António de Almeida (1935.10.04 – 1941.04.19) * Joseph-Conrad Chaumont (1941.06.28 – 1966.10.08) * György Zemplén (1969.01.10 – 1973.03.29) * Roger-Émile Aubry, Redemptorists (C.SS.R.) (1973.06.14 – 2010.02.17) * Mário Antônio da Silva (2010.06.09 – ...), Auxiliary Bishop of

Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...

(Brazil)

Rock art

In the municipality, located not far from the village of Ben Srour, are several

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

sites of archaeological interest.Poyto, R. (1976) "Les rupestres de Ben-S'rour, Daïra de Bou-Saâda" ''Libyca Alger'' 24: pp. 195-202, in French

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic with titular incumbent links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bou Saada Communes of M'Sila Province Cities in Algeria