Where is Marengo?

• Marengo is the name of a town in Algeria, to which Albert Camus refers in his famous novel The Stranger. The novel is set in the 1930s and Marengo is referred as a town near to the Home for Aged Persons, where Meursault, the main character of the novel, visits to participate to his mother’s funeral.
• However, it is impossible to find Marengo in modern maps. Probably due to the change of sovereignty, from France in the 1930s to today’s independent Algerian government, its official name has changed from Marengo to Hajout.
• Some describes the location of the town as ’50 miles from Algiers’ (http://www.sfu.ca/sonic-studio/srs/Lit121.html) and this distance accords with the location of modern Hajout, close to towns such as Nador and Tipaza on its direction for the Mediterranean Sea. 

Reference:

Google Maps (accessed 04/02/2010)

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

 

HoboHideout.com (2009) Marengo, Algeria Map, The Free Encyclopedia of Travel Rooms – Algeria (accessed 04/02/2010)

http://www.hobohideout.com/mp_algeria_marengo_map.php

 

World Soundscape Project, Sound References in Literature (author and year unknown) (accessed 04/02/2010)

http://www.sfu.ca/sonic-studio/srs/Lit121.html