Annaba is a bright, relaxed coastal city in Algeria's far northeast, with tree-lined boulevards, lively cafés and nearby beaches, but its great appeal is historical and spiritual: here, next to the modern city, lie the ruins of Hippo (Hippo Regius), one of the most important cities of Roman North Africa, and above all the place where one of history's great thinkers, Saint Augustine, lived, preached and died.
On a hill overlooking the ruins rises the imposing Basilica of Saint Augustine, built at the end of the 19th century, which holds a relic of the saint and makes Annaba a Christian pilgrimage destination in the heart of the Muslim world, a symbol of North Africa's long and rich Christian heritage. In April 2026, Pope Leo XIV visited Hippo and celebrated Mass in the basilica, following in Augustine's footsteps.
This guide covers Annaba with a practical eye: how to visit the basilica and the ruins of Hippo, what to see in the centre and along the promenade, where to enjoy the beaches and how to get around. Less monumental than other Algerian cities but steeped in history and with a pleasant Mediterranean feel, Annaba is a highly recommended stop on any route through the east of the country.
Annaba inherits the history of ancient Hippo (Hippo Regius), founded by the Phoenicians and turned by Rome into a prosperous port city and religious capital: Saint Augustine was bishop here (396-430) and died during the Vandal siege of the city. After the invasions and the Arab conquest, the medieval city shifted location and took the name Annaba ('the place of the jujubes'). It was an Ottoman stronghold and, under France, the city of Bône. The full story is told on the history page.
Read the full history ↓The heart of ancient Numidia and Roman Africa: Constantine perched above its gorge, the museum-cities of Timgad and Djémila, among the finest in the whole Roman world, and Annaba, the homeland of Saint Augustine.
Read the history of The Roman north-east and Constantine →No exact prices: a scale from $ (budget) to $$$$$ (luxury), with 2-3 options per category.
Origins, formation and what the sources say.
Annaba's history begins long before the present-day city existed, in neighbouring Hippo (Hippo Regius). The Phoenicians founded it around the first millennium BC as a trading port on the gulf, and its name, Hippo, probably comes from a Punic word for a port or harbour. The title 'Regius' ('royal') came from its role as one of the residences of the Berber kings of Numidia.
Under Roman rule, after the fall of Numidia, Hippo became one of the most prosperous and populous cities in North Africa. Its port shipped wheat and olive oil from the fertile surrounding region to Rome, and the city gained a forum, a theatre, baths, villas with mosaics and everything else a great Roman city had. It came to rival Carthage, the regional capital, in importance.
Hippo was also an early and active centre of Christianity. By the 3rd and 4th centuries the Christian faith had spread widely across North Africa, which gave the Church many martyrs, theologians and bishops. The city had its own Christian community, basilicas and bishopric, and one man would put it into world history and make it famous forever.
The man who tied the name of Hippo to world history for good was Augustine of Hippo (354-430), one of the most influential thinkers of all time. Born in Thagaste (today's Souk Ahras, not far away), Augustine had a restless youth. He studied and taught rhetoric, tried out several philosophical and religious movements, and finally converted to Christianity in Milan. He told the story of that conversion himself in his famous 'Confessions'.
In 396 Augustine was appointed Bishop of Hippo, a post he held for 34 years, until his death. From this North African port city he wrote a huge body of work that shaped Christian thought and Western philosophy for more than fifteen hundred years: the 'Confessions', 'The City of God', his theological treatises and his sermons. He fought heresies, organised the African Church and became one of the leading authorities of the Christianity of his time.
Augustine died in Hippo in 430, while the Vandals were besieging the city. Because of him, Hippo became a place of memory for all of Christendom. Centuries later, that legacy gave the modern city of Annaba its most universal identity and made it a pilgrimage destination, with the great basilica built in his honour.
The Vandals took Hippo shortly after Augustine's death, and the ancient city began to decline. Vandal rule, the Byzantine reconquest in the 6th century and finally the Arab-Muslim conquest in the 7th century changed the region step by step. Old Roman Hippo faded, and the town gradually moved a little towards where the present-day city stands.
The Arabs gave the new settlement names that eventually became 'Annaba', usually translated as 'the place of the jujubes' (a kind of fruit), after the trees that grew in large numbers in the area. The medieval city reused materials from the Roman ruins, as you can see in the 11th-century Sidi Bou Merouane Mosque, built with marble columns from Hippo. It stayed an active Mediterranean port, fought over by various Maghreb dynasties.
In the Ottoman period, from the 16th to the 19th century, Annaba (then also known as Bône) was a port town of the Regency of Algiers. It had its trade, its prized coral fishing and its links with Europe. Its port and its position near the Tunisian border kept it a city of some importance in the east of the country.
During the French conquest of Algeria, Annaba was occupied in 1832 and officially renamed Bône. Under French administration it became one of the main colonial ports in the east of the country, with busy trade and industry built on exporting minerals and farm produce. The city grew, adding European-style neighbourhoods, tree-lined boulevards and administrative buildings.
The elegant Cours de la Révolution (then the Cours Bertagna) dates from this period. This grand central promenade, lined with plane trees and cafés, is still the heart of Annaba's social life. Also in the 19th century, between 1881 and 1900, the great Basilica of Saint Augustine went up on the hill overlooking the ruins of Hippo, reaffirming the memory of the saint and the Christian heritage of the place.
During the War of Independence (1954-1962), Annaba, like the rest of eastern Algeria near the Tunisian border, played an important part in the liberation struggle. After Algeria won independence in 1962, the city took back its Arabic name, Annaba, and turned to industry. In nearby El Hadjar, one of the largest steelworks in Africa was built, making the city one of the country's industrial hubs.
Today Annaba is Algeria's fourth-largest city and the main urban centre of the far northeast. It is a busy port and an industrial and university hub, but also a relaxed coastal city with beaches, a seafront promenade and a strong café culture. It blends the weight of thousands of years of history with the energy of a Mediterranean city that faces the sea and draws plenty of domestic tourists.
Its most universal identity, though, is still the memory of Saint Augustine. The basilica and the ruins of Hippo make Annaba a rare meeting point between North Africa's Christian past and Muslim present, and a pilgrimage destination for believers from around the world. This side of the city stood out in April 2026, when Pope Leo XIV visited the archaeological site of Hippo and celebrated Mass in the basilica, following in the footsteps of the great bishop.
Annaba gives travellers an unusual mix: first-rate Roman and Christian heritage, a pleasant, walkable city inherited from colonial Bône, and Mediterranean beaches and wooded mountains close at hand. At first sight it is less spectacular than Constantine or the great ruins of Timgad and Djémila, but it rewards visitors with its history, its light and the calm character of a port in eastern Algeria.
