Maghnia,
(formerly Marnia) is a town in Tlemcen, wilaya, Northwestern
Algeria, near the border with
Morocco. It is known for Treaty
of Lalla Maghnia (March 18, 1845) between France (which
ocupied Algeria at that time) and Abderrahman, Sultan
of Morocco, which established the boundaries between
Algeria and Morocco.
Archeology discovered presence of prehistoric people
in the area of Maghnia, followed by
Phoenicians. The remnants of burned down Ancient Roman
military post were discovered, occupied, according
to the inscriptions, by a numerus Syrorum, a unit of
Syrian archers. The remnants of the post were discovered
by the French army in 1836, when they entered the area.
Due to its convenient geographical loation — within the watershed of Wadi Tafna
midway between Fes and Tlemcen (which was probably also the reason of placing
the Roman post there), the place of Maghnia later served as
a marketplace for nomads
of
the area.
Arabs named the place Lalla Maghnia, after a local saint woman,
buried in the vicinity. Her mausoleum was built probably in 18th century.
The French have built a redoubt in 1844 there, and the modern town of Maghnia grew
arount
it.
