A town of northern Algeria at the foot of the Atlas Mountains southwest of Algiers. It was built on the site of a Roman military base. Population: 161,000.
Blida
Dictionary:
Bli·da (blē'də)  |
| Saints: Blida |
Blida, mother of Walstan of Bawburgh, and reputed in his Life to have been an East Anglian princess. She was buried at Martham in the late 11th century, where there was a chapel dedicated to her, to which bequests were made as late as 1522. She is represented on a screen, formerly in St. James, Norwich, crowned, holding a book and palm, and in the NE. chancel window at North Tuddenham. Like her son, she seems to have had a restricted local cult. No known feast.
Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.
- M. R. James, ‘Lives of St. Walstan’, Norf. Archaeol. Soc. Papers, xix (1917), 238–67
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Blida |
Blida (blē'dä) , town (1998 pop. 226,512), N Algeria, at the foot of the Mitidja Atlas Mts. The name also appears as El Boulaïda. It is an administrative center and an agricultural trading town. Blida is surrounded by gardens and by orange, olive, and almond tree plantations. Wheat, barley and tobacco are also grown. The city is noted for its fruit and flower essences. Built on the site of a Roman military base, Blida was founded in 1553 by Andalusians, who developed irrigation works and orange cultivation. Most of the old town was destroyed by earthquakes in 1825 and 1867.
| Wikipedia: Blida |
Coordinates: 36°28′N 2°49′E / 36.467°N 2.817°E
For the former Polish government minister, see Barbara Blida.
Blida (Arabic: البليدة) is a city in Algeria. It is the capital of Blida Province, and it is located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, the national capital.[1] The name Blida, i.e. bulaydah, diminutive of the arab word belda, city.
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Geography and natural features
Blida lies surrounded with orchards and gardens, 630 ft. above the sea, at the base of the Tell Atlas, on the southern edge of the fertile plain of the Metija, and the right bank of the Wad-el-Kebir outflow from the Chiffa gorge. The abundant water of this stream provides power for large corn mills and several factories, and also supplies the town, with its numerous fountains and irrigated gardens. Blida is surrounded by a wall of considerable extent, pierced by six gates, and is further defended by Port Mimieh, crowning a steep hill on the left bank of the river.
The nearby Chiffa gorge is a habitat of the endangered Barbary Macaque, Macaca sylvanus; this habitat is one of only a few relict locations where populations of this primate are found.[2]
History
The present town, French in character, has well-built modern streets with many arcades, and numbers among its buildings several mosques and churches, extensive barracks and a large military hospital. The principal square, the place d'Armes, is surrounded by arcaded houses and shaded by trees. The centre of a fertile district, and a post on one of the main routes in the country, Blida has a flourishing trade, chiefly in oranges and flour. The orange groves contain over 50,000 trees, and in April the air for miles round is laden with the scent of the orange blossoms. In the public gardens is a group of magnificent olive trees. The products of the neighbouring cork trees and cedar groves are a source of revenue to the town. Sidi-Ahmed El-Kebir, Blida’s founder, is buried in Sidi El-Kebir (an area named after him). He founded Blida in the 16th century.
The city occupies the site of a military station in the time of the Romans, but the present town appears to date from the 16th century. A mosque was built by order of Khair-ed-din Barbarossa, and under the Turks the town was of some importance. In 1825 it was nearly destroyed by an earthquake, but was speedily re-erected on a site about a mile distant from the ruins. It was intricately rebuilt of interconnecting alleyways and streets, and was made accessible through the existing six major gates. The gates were as follows:
- Bab Er-Rahba
- Bab Ed-Zair
- Bab El-Khouikha
- Bab Es-Sebt
- Bab Ez-Zaouia
- Bab El-Kbour
Nowadays, those gates no longer exist, but their names are still in use by people in Blida as reference points to locate streets, places, schools and businesses.
References
- Alice Cherki and Nadia Benabid (2006) Frantz Fanon: A Portrait, Cornell University Press, 255 pages ISBN 080147308X
- C. Michael Hogan, (2008) Barbary Macaque: Macaca sylvanus, Globaltwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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