El Kantara or Kantara, formerly Calceus Herculis is one of the daïras of the wilaya of Biskra in Algeria. It is an oasis situated in the southwest of Aurès, in 50 kilometers in the North of Biskra and in 50 kilometers of Batna.
In the Roman period, it was an urban area known under the name of Calceus Herculis (that is Hercule's heel). According to Marcel le Glay, this city would have been established by the companions of hercule3. The historians assert that it was Romain who had opened a passage through mountains and had built his famous bridge to facilitate the movements of the persons and the goods.
El-Kantara is a small very quiet village (of 10 000 inhabitants). It is full of contrasts. It snows in about twenty kilometers more in the North (in winter), and of majestic sand dunes are in about sixty kilometers a little more in the South where the temperature in summer can touch sometimes 50°C.
El-Kantara is a classified national site that has several tourist trumps; the Throats, the vast palm grove, the hikes, the red town, etc. Many writers or poets were impressed by the beauty of the landscapes of el-kantara.