Excavations in the Gueldaman caves, at Bouhamza, found prehistoric tools, pottery and ornaments of bone and stone. The cave of Afalou Bou Rhummel, at Melbou, was classified as protected cultural property on 3 December 2015.
Prehistoric and Roman sites
Excavations in the Gueldaman caves, at Bouhamza, found prehistoric tools, pottery and ornaments of bone and stone. The cave of Afalou Bou Rhummel, at Melbou, was classified as protected cultural property on 3 December 2015.
An aqueduct of the 2nd century AD brought water to Saldae from springs at Toudja, through a tunnel cut in a mountain. Its planner, the Roman engineer Nonius Datus, is known from a long inscription on a stone pillar.
The aqueduct bridge at Tihenaine, in Toudja, is about 300 m long and was built to cross a hollow in the land. On 25 April 2009, this ancient monument joined the supplementary inventory, a list of protected cultural property.
On a hill at the edge of Akbou stands a mausoleum from the Roman era. It is a cubic tomb on a stepped base, once topped by a pyramid, a type found in Kabylia. Scholars regard it as the tomb of a local chief who had adopted Roman ways.
Remains of Roman baths and of an aqueduct survive at Tiklat, in El Kseur, which is a protected site. The commune also has a medieval citadel, the Citadel of the Zianids, known locally as Lassouar, which is a classified monument.
Libyc inscriptions
On 31 December 2015, an ancient inscription in Libyc script, a property of Sidi Aïch, joined the supplementary inventory of protected cultural property. A catalogue of the wilaya's ancient stones describes a Libyc stele, an engraved standing stone, with 3 vertical lines of text, found in 1968. In 2014, the catalogue placed it in the municipal library of Sidi Aïch.
Ancient inscriptions in Libyc script have also been recorded in Tifra. On 31 December 2015, the ancient inscription of Ilazoughlamene joined the supplementary inventory of protected cultural property.
The old town of Béjaïa
The old town of Béjaïa became a safeguarded sector, a protected historic area, by a decree of 6 May 2013. Its Sea Gate, Bab el Bahr, is one of the oldest surviving gates of the Maghreb, built under the Hammadids in the 11th century. Boats once passed under its great pointed arch to reach the port.
On Cap Carbon, about 3 km north of the port, the light of a lighthouse stands about 220 m above the sea. The lighthouse is not open to the public.
Places of the 20th century
At Ifri, in Ouzellaguen, stand the small houses where the Soummam Congress met on 20 August 1956. The Ministry of Culture lists the congress house on the general inventory of cultural property.
In the gorges of Kherrata, the Chabet el Akhra bridge is on the supplementary inventory, a list of protected cultural property.
Places of learning
On national road 75, at Amizour, stands the École supérieure en sciences et technologies de l'informatique et du numérique, or ESTIN. It is a national higher school of computing and digital technology. Its engineering students take 2 preparatory years and a common third year, then 2 years in artificial intelligence and data science or in cybersecurity.
The Aboudaou campus of the University of Béjaïa opened in 2003 at Tala Hamza, on the road from Tichy to Béjaïa.
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