Symposium Venue
About Tamanghasset
At first glance, the word “Tamanghasset” awake inour mind an extraordinary picture painted on therocks and the sand. At dawn, when the first lightof the sun shines on the A skrem, it illuminatesa path that leads to a world rich of natural andcultural treasures. History and geography haveadorned Tamanghasset of its finest splendors. Theyshaped its unique beauty through many benefitsthat deserve discovery.
Tamanghasset is located in the extreme south of Algeria, 1,900 km south of Algiers, 450 km as the crow flies southwest of Djanet and approximately 400 km north of the Malian border.
Tamanghasset, the pearl of the Sahara, represents one of the most important tourist attractions in our country. A vast arid land in the middle of the Sahara, Tamanghasset is the capital of Hoggar, it contains archaeological sites dating back no less than 600,000 to a million years and bears witness to the first human manifestations.
It is in this region that we find the wonderful mountain ranges of Ahaggar including Mount Tahat, the highest peak in Algeria with an altitude of less than 3000 meters.
The city has breathtaking sites to visit, masterpieces of nature. Tourists will be able to discover the Ahaggar national park, go to the hermitage of Charles Foucauld, the Laperrine monument, the Tamanghasset market (L'Assihar) and the OPNA Museum (the National Park Office of Ahaggar).
Tamanghasset is strongly rooted in history.In this place, primitive man has built its first civilization. He lived next to wildanimals (ostriches, giraffes and elephants)in the great Sahara, which was more likea Savannah, during the modern Stone Age(9000 and 2500 AD). The existence of water has led to the emergence of fish, crocodilesand hippos. Before it became arid aswe know it today, hunters and shepherdsbuilt, there, tents and houses. Drawingsand rock paintings reveal the characteristicsof those times.
During the French occupation, Tamanghasset became a bastion of national resistanceand opposed both military campaigns andforeign religious missions. The resistancebegot several battles until the total occupationof the country. During the AlgerianRevolution and despite the attempts ofFrench colonialism to isolate the Saharafrom the Revolution, far to in the North, the Moujahidine of Tamanghasset joinedthe fight by setting up a number of majormilitary operations against the French occupiers.A lot of martyrs fell in battle andcemented the national unity with theirblood. The heroic acts of resistance multipliedand only ceased on Independencein 1962.
Prepared by Adil CHEKATI