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What to see and do — Béchar

The Saoura has been inhabited for 7,000 years (Taghit rock engravings, among North Africa's finest). Berber Zenetes developed the first oases in the 9th century. Trans-Saharan caravan trade made Béchar and Taghit stops from the 12th to 19th centuries. The traditional cultural center (Kenadsa, Kerzaz) were influential Sufi centers. The Ottomans exercised only nominal control. The French penetrated the Saoura in 1903 (Foucauld mission), founded modern Béchar (then Colomb-Béchar) in 1908 as a strategic garrison on the Spanish Morocco border. During the independence war, the Saoura was a French military zone. At independence in 1962, Colomb-Béchar resumed the name Béchar. Today it is a university, administrative and tourist hub, an essential stop for Taghit, Beni Abbès and the western erg.

• 📍Taghit — Saoura's pearl oasis 90 km south, palm grove at the foot of the western erg, spectacular dunes
• 📍Taghit Rock Engravings — Prehistoric site 18 km from Taghit, 4,000-7,000-year engravings (giraffes, elephants, hunters)
• 📍Taghit Ksar — Old fortified red ocher mud ksar, covered alleys, overlooking the palm grove
• 📍Western Erg — Vast dune sea, accessible from Taghit or Beni Abbès, legendary bivouacs
• 📍Kenadsa — Ksar and traditional cultural center 22 km from Béchar, historic Sufi center, ancient manuscripts
• 📍Beni Abbès — Oasis 240 km south, palm grove, dunes, CNRS scientific research station