Tipasa

I tend to "dig" Roman ruins and it's always a highlight on my travel plan. Algeria has a lot and most is quite nice, not so much Tipasa. On paper it sounds great: port town with many ruined buildings extending along the shoreline. The site is split into two parts. The larger one is in town surrounded by restaurant streets so parking is a bit of an issue plus there was road construction when I was visiting, so I went to the eastern graveyard first which has a parking lot (it's free although someone tried to get money as I was driving away which I think is just a scam?) and entrance is very cheap. It doesn't take long to see this area and I tried to explore more on the eastern edge of it but local drunkards that jump over the fence and hang around here (I have even seen them jump over it from the street) were harassing me so it's no wonder nobody else is making their way into the trees. This doesn't effect the rating but the site just doesn't have much to offer at this area.

The much better part is in town. You reach it through a small road off the main street and pay another ticket, can even hire a tour guide if you want although most will just speak French and Arabic. The site is quite extensive and worth the entry fee. It will take you an hour just to see …

The North coast of Africa is well represented on the List with Roman ruins so, do those of Tipasa add anything? Well it has the normal range of buildings to be found in a Roman town – a theatre and amphitheatre, temples, a Cardo Maximus, villas, baths, nymphaeum etc etc. What perhaps sets Tipasa apart is its location on a couple of promontories in wooded countryside next to the Mediterranean.

This location had a profound impact on the young Albert Camus “Au printemps, Tipasa est habité par les dieux et les dieux parlent dans le soleil et l'odeur des absinthes, la mer cuirassée d'argent, le ciel bleu écru, les ruines couvernes de fleurs et la lumière à gros bouillons dans les amas de pierres. A certaines heures, la campagne est noire de soleil. ….. Je comprends ici ce qu'on appelle gloire : le droit d'aimer sans mesure”. A partial reading of the essay (in French), accompanied by a video of the site, can be found here 

I make no claim of sympathy with (let alone total understanding of!!) Camus’s philosophy, nor to having any similar profound experience whilst there – but the site is certainly very pleasant to wander around and even, perhaps, to ruminate as he did on the absurdity of existence!! At the far western point of the site on the promontory beyond the Necropolis stands a stelum erected in his memory with the “Je comprends ici…” quote inscribed upon it …

When I was a kid we lived in Algiers, and used to go out to Tipasa fairly often at the weekends. I remember very clearly wandering around the site - it's incredibly beautiful, right by the sea, and somehow timeless. The memories have stayed with me always, and the place holds s pecial meaning for me now. I'd love to return and someday, hopefully, I will.