Tazoult is

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

town in north-eastern

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

Location

Tazoulte formerly known as Lambèse is in the

wilaya A wilayah ( ar, وَلاية, wālāya or ''wilāya'', plural ; Urdu and fa, ولایت, ''velâyat''; tr, vilayet) is an administrative division, usually translated as "state", "province" or occasionally as "governorate". The word comes fr ...

of Batna east of Batna, west of

Timgad Timgad ( ar, تيمقاد, links=, lit=, translit=Tīmgād, known as Marciana Traiana Thamugadi) was a Roman city in the Aurès Mountains of Algeria. It was founded by the Roman Emperor Trajan around 100 AD. The full name of the city was ''Colon ...

and at west of

Khenchela Khenchela ancient Mascula ( ar, خنشلة) is the capital city of the administrative Khenchela Province (''Wilaya''), number 40, in the north east of Algeria. Situated in the Aures Mountains, 1200 m above sea level. The city is mainly popu ...

, and centrally located in the wilaya of Batna. It is above sea level, and surrounded by Jebel Doufana and Oustili Mountains to the west and Jebel Tafrent to the south . Average temperature ranges from in Winter to in Summer though temperatures as high as have been recorded. Since 1984 the commune of Tazoult consists of the following areas : * Boukha * Bouzène * Chaabet El Ghoul * Chenatif * Draa Ben Sebbah *Steward *Latrèche * Markouna * Merfeg Sidi Belkeir * Oued Bouhayoun * Oustilli * Tazoult * Tifiracine * Touafez

History

The Roman

civitas In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...

of Lambèse was a city garrison, founded in the year 81 by the Third Roman Legion, under

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

built the city and under

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...

North African North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

) an imperial residence of the legate of

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

. Lambaesis, was for a time capital of

, with a population of more than 1862 civilians. The city grew but when the

legion Legion may refer to: Military * Roman legion, the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army * Spanish Legion, an elite military unit within the Spanish Army * Legion of the United States, a reorganization of the United States Army from 179 ...

was dissolved in 238, the city was deprived of its major economic support. In the

5th century The 5th century is the time period from 401 ( CDI) through 500 ( D) ''Anno Domini'' (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia. It saw the ...

, the city was destroyed by the

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 ...

and disappearing almost completely under the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

s. In modern times

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

sent their political prisoners to the town and, the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

established a penal colony there in January 1850. It was guarded by a detachment of the 3rd Zouave regiments . The ruins which covered more than were used to build the prison, and town. A village populated by laborers, artisans and merchants formed around the prison. In 1862, an agricultural colony of was created for a hundred settlers. The settlement will create a full-function joint in 1869. Public buildings included a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

and

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

The prison of Lambaesis was known for its harsh conditions and hosted

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

n nationalists during the

Algerian war of independence The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. After

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, Lambèse was renamed and became known as Tazoult. The prison is still used and has attracted criticism for ''conditions contrary to

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

'' and is used to hold political opposition members. The current

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

is Cherif Guedouar who replaced long term mayor Moussa Fellah in 2012. GM Lambese Algeria01

Archaeology

Archaeological Heritage includes: * Garrison Lambèse * the Praetorian *The

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crow ...

of Lambèse * The Roman Areana * the Capitol * The temple of Aesculapius Lambèse, * The

Roman amphitheater Roman amphitheatres are theatres – large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised seating – built by the ancient Romans. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, ''venationes'' (animal slayings) and executions. About 230 Ro ...

* Museum of Lambèse

Toponymy

The name of Tazoult is a Berber word for khol in Tuareg or antimony in other Algerian or Moroccan languages.Dalila Ouitis, Concise of place names and place names of Algeria, Ed. Djoussour,(Algiers 2009)

Population

* 1880 = 4,732 * 1966 = 64,813 * 1977 = 9,314 * 1984 = 11,000 * 1998 = 22,114 * 2008 = 27,493

Infrastructure

The town has two schools: the school Emir Abdelkader and Mohamed Slimane Technicum, three middle schools (CEM), thirteen

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s and a vocational training center. There are health facilities as well. The town has a museum and a library of culture and

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

. The town also boasts a stadium, three playgrounds, a sports hall and a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ain Djasser Communes of Batna Province Algeria