Ouargla (also Wargala) is the capital city of Ouargla province, in the Sahara

Sahara

The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...

 Desert, in southern Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

. It has a flourishing oil industry, and 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 CE, destroying the imamate of Tahert

Tahert

Tiaret is a large town in the central Algeria, that gives its name to the wider farming region of 'Wilaya de Tiaret' province. Both the town and region lie south-west of the capital of Algiers in the western region of the central highlands, in the Tell Atlas, and about from the Mediterranean coast...

 and conquering Sijilmasa

Sijilmasa

Sijilmasa was a medieval trade entrepôt at the northern edge of the Sahara Desert in Morocco. The ruins of the town lie along the River Ziz in the Tafilalt oasis near the town of Rissani...

 in Morocco. Ibadi

Ibadi

The Ibāḍī movement, Ibadism or Ibāḍiyya is a form of Islam distinct from the Sunni and Shia denominations. It is the dominant form of Islam in Oman and Zanzibar...

 Kharijite refugees from Tahert

Tahert

Tiaret is a large town in the central Algeria, that gives its name to the wider farming region of 'Wilaya de Tiaret' province. Both the town and region lie south-west of the capital of Algiers in the western region of the central highlands, in the Tell Atlas, and about from the Mediterranean coast...

 fled south to the oasis

Oasis

In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...

 at Ouargla.

Modern Ouargla

The city was a significant touristic attraction until recently, when troubled times during the nineties and since brought a stop to that. Many tourists chose to shop sand roses at souk l'ehjar, the old rock market. The souq, or market, had many traditional shops filled with antiquities, traditional crafts, and local items - from dresses to stuffed lizards. The area across from these shops was used to display sand roses, mineral specimens, of all sizes and shapes. The market has gone through a renovation process. However many criticized this renovation, feeling it destroyed the historical character of souk l'ehjar and the area.

Not far from souk l'ehjar is the old groceries market, or the Sunday market as the local people call it. It is also 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. The central circular structure is presently used as a meat market, and around this are rows of grocers and farmers with stalls displaying their produce, with all sorts of fruits and vegetables.

Next to the old groceries market lie to the two oldest mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

s of the city, "al-Masjid al-Atiq" which literally means "the old mosque," and the old Ibadhi mosque. The old Ibadhi mosque was "home" to one of the most renowned Islamic scholars of the city, Taleb et-Tayeb.

Some of Ouargla's population speak the Ouargli language

Ouargli language

Ouargli, or Teggargrent, is a Zenati Berber variety spoken in the oases of Ouargla and N'Goussa in Algeria. As of 1987, it had no more than 10,000 speakers; the Ethnologue estimated only 5,000 speakers as of 1995...

.

Music

Peter Chatman, known as Memphis Slim

Memphis Slim

Memphis Slim was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxophones, bass, drums, and piano. A song he first cut in 1947, "Every Day I Have the Blues", has become a blues standard, recorded by many other...

, a great piano blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 musician and boogie woogie all star, composed and performed a boogie-woogie

Boogie-woogie

Boogie-woogie has the following meanings:*Boogie-woogie, a piano-based music style*Boogie-woogie , a swing dance or a dance that imitates the rock-n-roll dance of the 1950s*"Boogie Woogie" , a song by EuroGroove and Dannii Minogue...

instrumental tune named 'Ouargla' in 1971. On the track, he was accompanied by Michel Denis on drums. The piece pays tribute to the Ouargla oasis, which was a famous and popular 'hang out' in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

External links

منتديات ورقلة المنوعة
http://www.ouargla.org