El-Kantara bridge is an ancient roman bridge, located near the town of El Kantara in Biskra Province, Algeria. It was built by the roman army around the beginning of the third century A.D. in the canyon then called « Calceus Herculis » (Hercules’ shoe).
The Romans arrived in El Kantara in the 1st century AD.Very quickly the region became an urban and military center known as Calceus Herculis. To facilitate access and connect the two banks of the El Haï wadi which crosses the defile, they erected a bridge with a single arch 10 m in diameter. In addition, they set up a multitude of camps to provide surveillance and security.
The bridge was restored by the French army at the time of Napoleon 3.The natural site of El Kantara, “Calceus Herculis” the Roman heritage have been classified and protected since 1923.
Access : Coordinates: 35°14’0.798″N, 5°42’5.598″E / The roman bridge located near the El Kantara , a town and commune in Biskra Province, Algeria.
Highlights :
- The natural site of El Kantara, between Biskra and Arris, the southern gate, nicknamed the “Gate of the desert” or even designated “Golden Gate” by Eugène Fromentin, is fascinating in its beauty and fascinating by its geology.
- Under Napoleon III, In 1862, the French repaired the bridge, opened a tunnel of more than 40 m in the rock and built the viaduct used by the railway line that goes to the Sahara. Then they built the current national road 3 which was called the imperial road.
- El Kantara was named by the Romans “the Calceus Herculis” in reference to the kick of Hercules, they installed a military post there and it was one of the four bridges that Rome built in the world with those of Spain, Italy and the Danube.
Go next : El Kantara Gorge / El Kantara , a town and commune in Biskra Province, Algeria / Biskra , the capital city of Biskra Province, Algeria.
