Medea Province
Medea's 1,000m altitude made it Ottoman Titteri's capital (1548-1830) and Algeria's mountain wine zone. Now pharmaceuticals and shoes anchor an industrial transition.
Medea exists because altitude creates opportunity in a Mediterranean climate. At over 1,000 meters elevation, the Titteri highlands offered what coastal Algeria could not: cool nights for vine ripening, defensible terrain for Ottoman administration, and distance from the malarial lowlands. The Romans established a military post here (Lambdia); the Zirid dynasty founded the modern city in the 10th century; and from 1548 to 1830, Medea served as capital of the Beylik of Titteri—one of three Ottoman principalities that divided Algeria.
The last Bey, Mostefa Boumezrag, ruled from 1819 until the French conquest in 1830. The new colonizers recognized the same geographic logic as the Ottomans: they planted vineyards across the plateau, exploiting the altitude that produced wines distinct from Algerian coastal production. Today Medea remains a mountainous wine zone, producing whites, rosés, and reds from grapes grown at elevations most Mediterranean vineyards cannot reach.
Modern Medea has diversified beyond wine and olives. The Saidal-Antibiotical facility is one of Algeria's largest pharmaceutical production units, while shoe factories in Takbou and M'Salah feed domestic demand. By 2026, the province's position between Algiers (68 km north) and the steppe interior positions it as an industrial buffer zone—high enough for agriculture, close enough for logistics, cool enough for manufacturing that requires controlled environments.