? The discovery of three ancient cities in the heart of Algiers.. What is their story
The interior of Martyrs' Square in Algiers is littered with antiquities dating back 2,200 years
In 2009, underground archaeological discoveries were announced in Algeria in the "Martyrs' Square" in Algiers, the most famous square in the country, but it was not revealed what was found during an excavation process to expand the metro line linking the east and west of the city.
2200 years of history
And yesterday, Tuesday, public television broadcast a special session entitled "Know Your City", in which the curtain was officially revealed for the first time about the findings of explorers specializing in archeology in the ground.
Towards reviving the waterfront corridors in the Kasbah in the capital
These galleries were among the discoveries made by those in charge of the extension of the Algiers metro in Martyrs' Square. In addition to other monuments dating back more than 2,000 years from successive human civilizations.
After the process of removing the soil from these monuments and the corridors, a project was launched to rehabilitate them with the aim of turning them into a museum and a witness to the history of the city of Algeria.
What was revealed by the class, by a specialist in archeology, was the finding of three layers, one on top of the other, each containing evidence from cities during long periods of Algerian history. The first relates to the beginnings of the French occupation in 1830, the second to the Ottoman period that extended over 3 centuries, and finally the Roman period.
Mosque, church and streets
Among the things found were paved streets, columns and arches of a city during the Ottoman period, 6,000 artifacts dating back to the same period, residences and a quarter for artisans specializing in iron smelting, a mosque and the Bait al-Mal complex, and a public spring of water.
Also, 71 graves and 117 skeletons dating back to the sixth century AD (specifically the year 610 AD) were also found, and 7 thousand artifacts of different periods were also found.
A specialist in antiquities revealed to Algerian television that a church dating back to the Roman period was found. As for the French colonial period, a large square was found that France used to gather its armies during the first years of the occupation, and he said that the occupier demolished all housing at the time to establish this square.
Former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika previously visited this station in 2018, and saw what had been discovered until that year without informing the public of what is in the ground, and a large part of the "Martyrs' Square" remained closed to the movement of citizens.
Despite this, some videos "leaked" from inside the station, showing the streets and corridors that were discovered, but without giving explanations about those videos, and they were circulated on social networks at the time.
Source : websites