Maghnia

Maghnia مغنية
Commune and town
Riwaq El-Fen in Maghnia
Maghnia
Coordinates:
Country	Algeria
Province	Tlemcen Province
District	Maghnia District
Area
• Land	96 sq mi (249 km2)
Population (2008)
• Total	114,634
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
CP	13001

Maghnia (Arabic: مغنية‎‎) (formerly Marnia) is a town in Tlemcen Province, northwestern Algeria.

It is the second town in Tlemcen Province, after Tlemcen. The current population is over 200,000.

History

Archeologists have found evidence of prehistoric people in the area, who were displaced by the Phoenicians. The remnants of burned Ancient Roman military posts were discovered by the French army in 1836, when they entered the area; these posts were occupied, according to the inscriptions, by a numerus Syrorum: a unit of Syrian archers. As such, it was the westermost outpost of Mauretania Caesariensis.

Due to its convenient geographical location — within the watershed of Wadi Tafna midway between Fes and Tlemcen, Maghnia later served as a marketplace for regional nomads.

The Berbers named the place Lalla Marnia (Lalla Maghnia), after a local saint buried in the vicinity. Her mausoleum was probably built in the 18th century.

Notable persons

• Ahmad ben Bella, the first President of independent Algeria, was born in Maghnia in 1916.
• Sid Ahmed Ghozali