El Kantara

El Kantara guards a narrow passage through the mountains between the high plains and the oases of the Sahara. The gorge, known as the Mouth of the Desert, opens onto palm groves watered by the river below. A Roman bridge at its entrance gave the settlement its name, meaning the bridge. Ancient tradition called the gap Calceus Herculis, the kick of Hercules; merchants later passed through it on the road south to Biskra and the Ziban.