Médéa ( ber, Lemdiyyet, ar, المدية ''al-Madiya''), population 123,535 (1998 census) is the capital city of

Médéa Province Médéa ( ar, ولاية المدية) is a province ('' wilaya'') of Algeria. The capital is Médéa. Administrative divisions The province is divided into 19 districts ('' daïras''), which are further divided into 64 ''communes'' or municip ...

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

. It is located roughly 68 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 ...

. The present-day city is situated on the site of an

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

military post and has a history dating back to the 10th century. The town is French in character, with a rectangular city plan, red tile-roofed buildings, and beautiful public gardens. The hills surrounding Médéa are covered with vineyards, orchards, and farms that yield abundant

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

. Médéa's chief products are wines, irrigation equipment, and various handicrafts.

Etymology

Medea is a Roman city named ad ''Medix'' or ''Media'' ("halfway" in Latin), so called because it was equidistant from Tirinadi (

Berrouaghia Berrouaghia is a town and commune in Médéa Province, Algeria. According to the 1998 census it has a population of 58,780. Notable people * Benyoucef Benkhedda - Algerian politician History Berrouaghia was during the Roman Empire called Tanara ...

) and Sufnsar ( Amourah) rest house of

Mauretania caesarean Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern present-day Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, ...

on the road linking the capital Caesarea (

Cherchell Cherchell (Arabic: شرشال) is a town on Algeria's Mediterranean coast, west of Algiers. It is the seat of Cherchell District in Tipaza Province. Under the names Iol and Caesarea, it was formerly a Roman colony and the capital of the k ...

) to the colony Auzia (

Aumale Aumale (), formerly known as Albemarle," is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. It lies on the River Bresle. History The town's Latin name was ''Alba Marla''. It was raised by William th ...

History

During the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

there was a settlement called Lamdia at Médéa. During the Roman Empire the town of Lamdia, was the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense. Types of seat The following are examples of different kinds of seat: * Armchair (furniture), ...

of an

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...

Christian

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

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 ...

. Only one bishop of the town is known. The

Donatist Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and t ...

Felix, attended the 411 Conference of Carthage. The town at that time had no Catholic bishops. Today Lamdia survives as a

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

ric of the

Roman Church Holy Roman Church, Roman Church, Church of Rome or Church in Rome may refer to: * The Diocese of Rome or the Holy See * The Latin Church * Churches of Rome (buildings) In historical contexts ''Roman Church'' may also refer to: * The Catholic Chur ...

and the current bishop is Marian Eleganti,

bishop of Chur The Bishop of Chur (German: ''Bischof von Chur'') is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chur, Grisons, Switzerland (Latin: ''Dioecesis Curiensis'').Berbers , image = File:Berber_flag.svg , caption = The Berber ethnic flag , population = 36 million , region1 = Morocco , pop1 = 14 million to 18 million , region2 = Algeria , pop2 ...

in the 11th century,

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

tribes of

Hilal Hilal or Al-Hilal may refer to: *Hilal ( ar, هلال, ''hilāl''), a crescent ** the crescent Moon visible after a new Moon, determining the beginning of a month in the Islamic calendar * Banu Hilal, a confederation of tribes of Arabia Arts ...

and

Sulaym The Banu Sulaym ( ar, بنو سليم) is an Arab tribe that dominated part of the Hejaz in the pre-Islamic era. They maintained close ties with the Quraysh of Mecca and the inhabitants of Medina, and fought in a number of battles against the Is ...

descent were settled in the region, mixing with and Arabicizing the local Berbers. Médéa was the capital of the

Beylik of Titteri The Beylik of Titteri, (in arabic : ''bâylik at-Tîtrî)'', was one of the three permanent Beyliks of the Regency of Algiers, the other two being the Western Beylik, and the Beylik of Constantine. It was established in 1546 and was ended during t ...

; a Bey, deputy of the Dey of Algiers, was resident there. The beylik of Titteri (chief Medea) was established in 1548. The last Bey Mostefa Boumezrag ran it from 1819 to 1830, when the French arrived. In 1837, after the

Treaty of Tafna The Treaty of Tafna was signed by both Abd-el-Kader and General Thomas Robert Bugeaud on 30 May 1837. This agreement was developed after French imperial forces sustained heavy losses and military reversals in Algeria. The terms of the treaty ent ...

, Medea became one of the capitals of the part of Algeria ruled by

Abdelkader El Djezairi Abd al-Qadir or Abdulkadir ( ar, عبد القادر) is a male Muslim given name. It is formed from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and '' Qadir''. The name means "servant of the powerful", ''Al-Qādir'' being one of the names of God in the ...

, but was occupied by the French when they eventually took possession of the whole of Algeria. Until 1962 Médéa was a garrison town for the French army.Ted Morgan, page 59 ''My Battle of Algiers''. .

Economy

One of the largest pharmaceutical production units in Algeria (''

Saidal Saidal Group (, ) is an Algerian pharmaceutical company created in 1982. Saidal Group is the largest pharmaceutical company in Algeria and one of the largest in Africa. Saidal Group exports its products to Ivory Coast, Gabon, Senegal, Cameroon, ...

-Antibiotical'') is located in Medea. Shoe factories also established in Takbou and M'Salah. Medeaundersnow

Notable people

Mohamed Belhocine Mohamed Belhocine ( ar, محمد بلحسين; born 9 April 1951, in Tizi Ouzou) is an Algerian medical scientist and professor of internal medicine and epidemiology. Training After primary studies in Sidi Lakhdar (formerly known as Lavarande, ...

(born 1951), Algerian medical scientist, professor of internal medicine and epidemiology. * Amine Megateli - Professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

Jean Richepin Jean Richepin (; 4 February 1849 – 12 December 1926) was a French poet, novelist and dramatist. Biography Son of an army doctor, Jean Richepin was born 4 February 1849 at Médéa, French Algeria. At school and at the École Normale Supér ...

- French poet and writer, member of

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

Djamel Tlemçani Djamel Tlemçani, (born April 16, 1955) is a former Algerian international footballer who played as a midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, break ...

- Professional

* Daniela Skokovic - author and librarian

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medea Populated places in Médéa Province Cities in Algeria Province seats of Algeria

Etymology

History

Economy

Notable people

See also

References