Castellum Ripae (literally "Riverbank Fortification") or Hadjar-Ouaghef is a locality and archeological site in Algeria, North Africa. xxx.Michael Greenhalgh, The Military and Colonial Destruction of the Roman Landscape of North Africa, 1830–1900, pp 75 2014.
Castellum Ripae is north-east of Hennaya and from the confluence of the Sık'k'ak and the Isurs Rivers.Revue Africaine Volume 1 Année 1856 (Journal Des Travaux De La Société Historique Algérienne Par Les Membres De La Société) p1090.
History During the Roman Empire Hadjar-Ouaghef was known as Castellum Ripae. It appears to have been a civitas in of the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis. Castellum Ripae has been identified with a set of ruins near Hadjar-Ouaghef.
Ancient Castellum Ripae was also the seat of a Christian bishopric during late antiquity.Pius Bonifacius Gams, Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, (Leipzig, 1931), p. 465Stefano Antonio Morcelli, Africa christiana, Volume I, (Brescia, 1816), p. 128. The only known bishop of this diocese is Cerealis, who took part in the synod assembled in Carthage in 484 by the Vandal King Huneric, after which Cerealis was exiled.Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), "Sedi titolari", pp. 819-1013
Although the see ceased to effectively function with the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, today the bishopric () survives as a titular bishopric of the Roman Catholic Church,Castello di Ripae, at catholic-hierarchy.org. and the current bishop is Jose Pandarassery, of Kottayam. Castello di Ripae at gcatholic.org.
At the beginning of French colonialism a fort was established here and it became a de facto entry into the Tafna Valley.Michael Greenhalgh, The Military and Colonial Destruction of the Roman Landscape of North Africa. (BRILL, 8 May 2014) p118.
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