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Ouargla is a capital city of Ouargla province, southern Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
. It is has a flourishing oil industry. It hosts one of Algeria's universities. The city had a population of 129,402 in 1998 (census figures).

Fatimids turned westward in 911, destroying the imamate of Tahert
Tahert

Tiaret is the name of a large Algerian town, one that gives its name to the wider farming region of 'Provinces of Algeria de Tiaret ' province in central Algeria....
 and conquering Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa

Sijilmasa was a mediaeval trade centre in the western Maghreb. The ruins of the city lie in the Tafilalt oasis near the modern small town of Rissani in southeastern Morocco....
 in Morocco. Ibadi
Ibadi

The Ibadi movement or Ibadiyya is a form of Islam distinct from the Shi'a and Sunni denominations. It is the dominant form of Islam in Oman....
 Kharijite refugees from Tahert
Tahert

Tiaret is the name of a large Algerian town, one that gives its name to the wider farming region of 'Provinces of Algeria de Tiaret ' province in central Algeria....
 fled south to the oasis at Ouargla.

city used to be a significant touristic attraction, up until recently; many tourists chose to shop sand roses at the old rock market (souk l'ehjar).






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Ouargla is a capital city of Ouargla province, southern Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
. It is has a flourishing oil industry. It hosts one of Algeria's universities. The city had a population of 129,402 in 1998 (census figures).

Historical Ouargla

The Fatimids turned westward in 911, destroying the imamate of Tahert
Tahert

Tiaret is the name of a large Algerian town, one that gives its name to the wider farming region of 'Provinces of Algeria de Tiaret ' province in central Algeria....
 and conquering Sijilmasa
Sijilmasa

Sijilmasa was a mediaeval trade centre in the western Maghreb. The ruins of the city lie in the Tafilalt oasis near the modern small town of Rissani in southeastern Morocco....
 in Morocco. Ibadi
Ibadi

The Ibadi movement or Ibadiyya is a form of Islam distinct from the Shi'a and Sunni denominations. It is the dominant form of Islam in Oman....
 Kharijite refugees from Tahert
Tahert

Tiaret is the name of a large Algerian town, one that gives its name to the wider farming region of 'Provinces of Algeria de Tiaret ' province in central Algeria....
 fled south to the oasis at Ouargla.

Modern Ourgla

The city used to be a significant touristic attraction, up until recently; many tourists chose to shop sand roses at the old rock market (souk l'ehjar). The market used to host many traditional shops filled with traditional antiquities, from dresses to stuffed lizzards. The area across the shops was used to display sand roses of all sizes and shapes. The troubled times during the nineties brought a stop to that. The market has gone through a renovation process. However many criticized this renovation, since they felt as destroying the historical character of the area.

Not too far from "souk l'ehjar" is the old groceries market or the Sunday market as the local people call it. It is located in the centre of the old city, La Lasbah. At its centre lays the original old market, shaped as a circle split into small archs. this is used nowadays as a meat market. around this circular structure, the rows of grocerers and farmers sit in stalls displaying their produce of all sorts of fruits and vegetables.

Next to the souq lie to the two oldest mosque
Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, masjid, ? . The word "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately owned mosque and the larger, "collective" mosque ,...
s of the city, "al-Masjid al-Atiq" which literally means "the old mosque" and the old Ibadhi mosque. The old mosque is a "home" to one of the most renowned islamic scholars of the city, Taleb et-Tayeb.

See also

  • Medieval Muslim Algeria
    Medieval Muslim Algeria

    Medieval Muslim Algeria spans from the 600s to the 1600s. Unlike the invasions of previous religions and cultures, the coming of Islam, which was spread by Arabs, was to have pervasive and long-lasting effects on North Africa....


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