Travel Guide Sidi Okba

17 km south-east of Biskra, towards Khenchela, Sidi-Okba is a beautiful oasis whose gardens are irrigated by water from the dam of Foum El-Gherza. The village owes its name to Oqba Ibn Nafaâ, one of the heroes of the Arab conquest of the Maghreb, the founder of Kairouan in Tunisia. On the way back, while he had brought Islam to the «end of the world», Oqba was hit by the Berber resistance led by King Kosaïla and then by the Kahina and was killed in 684 during a battle at the foot of Biskra and buried on the ground under the dome of the old mosque bearing his name. This mosque, some of which dates back to the th century, built with re-used materials such as the cedar door, is considered one of the oldest in the country.