The Phoenicians and Carthaginians established a trading post and fort named RŠKD (𐤓𐤔𐤊‬𐤃‬, "Jug Cape") after Skikda's nearby cape.
Falling under Roman hegemony after the Punic Wars, the name was Latinized as Rusicade or Rusiccade.
Rusicade contained the largest Roman theatre in Algeria, dating to the reign of Hadrian.

In late antiquity, the port was destroyed during the Vandals' invasion of 530.
The Byzantines reconquered the region in 533 and 534, but left large areas under Berber control.
The town was overrun by the Umayyad Caliphate at the end of the 7th century.

Present-day Skikda was founded by Sylvain Charles Valée in 1838 under the name Philippeville, honoring the French king at the time.
The French were in the process of annexing Algeria and developed Philippeville as a port for Constantine, Algeria's third-largest city.
The two cities were connected by rail.
On 10 October 1883, there was an earthquake in Philippeville.

Towards the end of World War II, a UNRRA refugee camp name Camp Jeanne d'Arc was established near the city.
On 25 January 1945, 200 Jews holding citizenship from countries in North and South America were sent from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp to Switzerland as part of a prisoner exchange group.
They were later sent to the UNRRA camp in Skikda.
The Phoenicians and Carthaginians established a trading post and fort named RŠKD (𐤓𐤔𐤊‬𐤃‬, "Jug Cape") after Skikda's nearby cape. Falling under Roman hegemony after the Punic Wars, the name was Latinized as Rusicade or Rusiccade. Rusicade contained the largest Roman theatre in Algeria, dating to the reign of Hadrian.
In late antiquity, the port was destroyed during the Vandals' invasion of 530. The Byzantines reconquered the region in 533 and 534, but left large areas under Berber control. The town was overrun by the Umayyad Caliphate at the end of the 7th century.
Present-day Skikda was founded by Sylvain Charles Valée in 1838 under the name Philippeville, honoring the French king at the time. The French were in the process of annexing Algeria and developed Philippeville as a port for Constantine, Algeria's third-largest city. The two cities were connected by rail. On 10 October 1883, there was an earthquake in Philippeville.
Towards the end of World War II, a UNRRA refugee camp name Camp Jeanne d'Arc was established near the city. On 25 January 1945, 200 Jews holding citizenship from countries in North and South America were sent from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp to Switzerland as part of a prisoner exchange group. They were later sent to the UNRRA camp in Skikda.
Skikda