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Beni Hammad Castle is located in Al-Maadid, northeast of the M'sila Province in Algeria, 36 km away. It was the first capital (before Bejaia) of the Hammadid-Sanhaji state, which reached its peak in the eleventh century. These ruins are located at an altitude of 1,000 meters above sea level and are surrounded by the Hudna Mountains, which form a suitable background. For the castle.
Beni Hammad Citadel is the capital of the second state in the Central Maghreb (Algeria) after the Rustamid state, as it was built in the context of the political and economic developments of their state. The castle is located 20 km north of the city of M’sila. It was founded by Hammad bin Balkin bin Ziri Al-Sanhaji Al-Berbari, according to the agreement he concluded with “Badis bin Al-Mansur bin Balkin bin Manad Al-Sanhaji” in the year 395 AH / 1004 AD, and its first fruits matured three years later with the birth of the castle’s minaret as the second A central state established in the Central Maghreb. Where Hammad bin Belkin took control of the state of Eastern Algeria during the era of the Zirid Sanhaji state in the year (398 - 419 AH / 1007 - 1029 AD).
The fortified castle was built between the years 398 AH / 399 AH / 1007 and 1008 AD on the foot of Mount Al-Maadheed, in the middle of a mountain range, making it difficult to reach due to its rugged paths. In his history, Ibn Khaldun spoke about the stages of its development, pointing out that Hammad completed its construction and landscaping at the beginning of the fourth century, and built its buildings and walls, and multiplied mosques and hotels in it, and that Al-Nasir ibn Allannas built the wondrous and elegant buildings, and that Al-Mansur built there the King’s Palace, Al-Manar Al-Kawkab, and the Peace Palace.