[3][4] In any case, Murustaga is the name by which the town was known when it became a Christian bishopric, and by which it is referred to in the Catholic Church's list of episcopal sees.

Then, it was conquered by the Almoravid dynasty, and reached its high point of power under Yusuf ibn Tashfin (c. 1061–1106).

The road connecting Oran (around 80 km from Mostaganem to the west) will remain the same, a crowded 2 lane in each direction highway.

A new, smaller port for fishing boats has been constructed, but is currently not used.Mostaganem has given birth to illustrious figures such as playwright Ould Abderrahmane Abdelkader AKA Kaki, cinema director Mohamed Chouikh, historians such as Moulay Belhamissi, and lyricists such as Kadda Medjeded.

A major centre of popular and amateur theater, it is home to important specialists of Andalusian classical music (Moulay Benkrizi), Chaabi (Maazouz Bouadjadj, Habib Bettahar), masters of traditional Bedouin music (Sheikh Hamada, Sheikh Djilali Ain Tedeles) and poets such as Sheikh Abdelkader Bentobdji and Sidi Lakhdar Benkhelouf who are authors of well-known qasida of Malhun poetry bequeathed as much to the Chaabi legacy as to Bedouins such as Emir `Abd al-Qādir al-Jazā'irī.

Furthermore, one of the most notable religious figures of the 20th century was also born and later buried in Mostaganem, the Great Sufi Master, Ahmad al-Alawi, who played a major role in spreading the Shadhili Darqawi tariqa (spiritual order) across the globe, such that this order is now considered one of the world's largest and most influential Sufi paths.

Many modern Muslims consider al-Alawi to be one of the "revivers" of Islam in the 20th century due to his role in spreading the religion, and even influencing the West, including opening the first mosque in Paris.