Castellum Ripae (literally "Riverbank Fortification") or Hadjar-Ouaghef is a locality and archeological site in Algeria, North Africa.[1] [2]
Castellum Ripae is north-east of Hennaya and 6km (04miles) from the confluence of the Sık'k'ak and the Isurs Rivers.[3]
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.[4] [5] 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.[6]
Although the see ceased to effectively function with the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, today the bishopric (la|Dioecesis Castelloripensis|link=no) survives as a titular bishopric of the Roman Catholic Church,[7] and the current bishop is Jose Pandarassery, of Kottayam.[8]
At the beginning of French colonialism a fort was established here and it became a de facto entry into the Tafna Valley.[9]