Once in Constantine, and wherever he goes in the city, the visitor will always meet something which will both puzzle him and satisfy his senses. Just a general glance at the natural beauty of the site will charm any demanding viewer. From the Sidi M'cid Bridge, 
often called the Suspended Bridge, one can look down upon rocky cliffs and see the Rhummel River. Beginning as a small stream tumbling over a rocky bed, the water course becomes deeper and deeper as it follows a natural course down the canyon. by the time the river has reached the Falls bridge, the air is filled with mist and the noise is deafening. As it continues to roar its way down the valley, finally emerging into the sunshine, the visitor has seen one of the true beauties of Constantine...
In the morning...
Up the slippery rocks, the town wakes up and comes out of the misty morning like a goddess revealing all her jewelry and beauty; the red roofs, the blue skies and the green gardens. Once the visitor has seen al this perfection and splendor, he can with no reluctance say that the legend belongs to him.
Geographic situation:
Constantine, Qacentina in Arabic, is situated at 36°23` of latitude and 6°37`of longitude in the Northeastern part of Algeria. It is 245 km east of the Tunisian border, 431km west of Algiers, 89 km south of Skikda, and 235 km north of Batna. The altitude above sea level varies from between 400 and 800 meters in the North, to 800m to 1200m in the South.With more than 800.000 inhabitants, Constantine stands as the third largest city in Algeria.
As a Way of an Invitation
Constantine is one of the few places in the world which can offer a combination of joy, wonderment, serenity, and 
centuries of majestic history having withstood invaders from many different lands and cultures. Its rocky stature, virtuous waters, mild rehearsal of light, charming silhouettes beyond all reach, resonance of beautiful music flying back and forth under the imposing and silent bridges, served as an inspiration to poets and musicians.
Cirta, Opullentissima, Qacentina, Constantine is like a gift of eternity created as a beautiful and everlasting mosaic encompassing time and space.
Come and enjoy!
Quotable Quotes on Constantine, a City of Bridges & Ridges
"Constantine is one of the strongest places in the world. It dominates vast tracts of cultivated plains sowed with wheat and barley."
al-Idrissi, twelfth century Arab geographer.
"...La seule chose importante que j'ai vue jusqu'à présent, c'est Constantine, le pays de Jugurtha. Il y a un ravin démesuré, qui entoure la ville. C'est une chose formidable et qui donne le vertige, je me suis promené en dessous, a pieds, et dedans, à cheval. Des gypaètes tournoyaient dans le ciel".
Gustave Flaubert-1858
"Un cri d'admiration, presque de stupeur. Au fond d'une gorge sombre, sur la crête d'une montagne baignant dans les derniers reflets rougeâtres d'un soleil couchant, apparaissait une ville fantastique, quelque chose comme l'île volante de Gulliver".
Alexandre Dumas.
"Une clef pour Constantine, une clef pour mon coeur, pour cet itinéraire qui s'en va et revient dans le merveilleux désordre des refrains décousus... Un fellah est venu apporter des fleurs et du lait. Des enfants jouent. Un minaret appelle. Le Rhumel persiste dans son audace...Le Rhumel s'en souvient, les corneilles s'en souviennent. Et les cigognes qui nichent sur les toits du quartier des Tanneurs, quand elles nous quittaient aux premiers froids, s'en allaient raconter aux quatre coins de l'Afrique et du monde arabe que le jour se levait sur la terre algérienne".
Malek Haddad, a contemporary Algerian writer
... and about Mentouri University
Constantine University, renamed Mentouri University in 1998, is an important landmark in the region's geography and 
culture. When it opened its doors for the first time in 1968, it was an annex of Algiers University and offered a very limited range of academic disciplines. Because of the tremendous increase in the student population, a new University was built on the Ain Bey plateau, visible from most parts of the city and the surrounding area. It is the actual main campus, the so called Ain-Bey campus. Conceived by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, it was inaugurated in 1971. Nowadays, it is the home for 24 departments and 35.000 students. The main library with its 700 seats, is holding some 250.000 books and offers audio-visual, Braille, and Internet services.
Several new campuses were added later: the Chaabat ar-Rassass campus which houses most of the engineering and related departments; the Zarzara campus further along the road to the airport from the main campus, which is housing the architecture, civil engineering, and electronics departments; and the latest major extension,
the imposing Tedjini Haddam campus inaugurated in the year 2000, which is the home for the business and administrative sciences.
Now Mentouri University has spawned two others University poles with a total of some 120.000 enrolled students, so that we have : Universities of Constantine 1, 2 and 3, each one with its own disciplines, and located in various parts of the city. The Faculty of Exact Sciences is still with Mentouri-Constantine-1 mother University. 
We also mention that there are a number of other institutions of higher learning, institutes, Ecole Normale Supérieur at Sidi Mabrouk...
In addition, Constantine has another University, the Emir Abdelkader University for Islamic Sciences, with its monumental Mosque, a Constantine landmark and one of the architectural jewels of North Africa.
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Born in 1920 in Mila, the poet Ahmed Ghoualmi was a student of Sheikh Moubarak El-Mili. He studied under the Reformer Imam Abdelhamid Ben Badis and graduated from the Zeytouna University in Tunis. His poems accompanied the misfortunes of the Algerian people during the Second World War and the colonial massacres of May 8, 1945
Ahmed Ghoualmi
(Translation from Arabic : O.Petit et W.Voisin, Edition Publisud, 1999)
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Que vers toi, Kaaba des héros et des hommes de bien, montent les vivats Que vers toi montent les vivats, chère cité soutien de la religion, Montée au fait de la grandeur, de tes aïeux Ville sur une haute montagne fièrement campée Nombreux sont les habitants qui remontent La Citadelle, qui fièrement se dresse, est bordée de ravins Sur le côté de la Citadelle la pente est étroitement serrée A côté de la Citadelle, des cordes ont été dressées Belle, attirante dans l’harmonieux agencement de ses frontières, Le Rummel, une épée, fend ses rochers, On croirait voir Babel ou Iram On l’a appelée Syrte ou Qirta ; était-ce une allusion On dirait une mariée dans sa robe, de ses bijoux parée, Un perle, qui sur les hauteurs de la fière montagne, brille, Une rose embaumant un jardin, épanouie, De ses jardins le trône de la beauté cueille Des siècles ont passé mais dans leur splendeur vivent |
