This was to be another warm to hot day in North Africa and our first tourist destination was to be the Algier’s Arts and Culture Centre. However, on arrival we found that the centre was closed for the day. Apparently, the President of Algeria was visiting the centre and so the general public was to be excluded.
For plan B, we drove to a high hillside peak overlooking the Mediterranean to see the Notre Dame Cathedral of Algiers.
The construction of this impressive church began in 1944 but not completed until 1956. It had its status elevated to that of cathedral in December 1962. The designers and engineer were apparently inspired by the gospel of St. John but we’re unsure how this fits in with the architecture.
Basilica of Notre Dame
Column and dome on Basilica of Notre Dame
The style is Byzantine as shown by the light blue and dark blue tiling on the upper walls. The entrance stairs lead to two large arched doorways with high circular towers extending above them. These towers resemble the minarets one would expect to see at a mosque except for the statue of Mary placed centrally between them.
The dominant external feature of this cathedral is the central twelve-sided tower. Each of the sides has an arched window with an elaborately carved top-piece.
The upper tower section is a glistening white hemisphere carrying a top crown with stars around its base. A high crucifix is the apex.
Basilica of Notre Dame
Dome on Basilica of Notre Dame
The bell tower looked particularly impressive and we were informed that this cathedral has a ‘twin’ of near identical design in Marseilles.
Bell Tower, Basilica of Notre Dame
Chapel Saint Joseph - 1856 (Original chapel), Basilica of Notre Dame
View of the Mediterranean and Stadium from Basilica of Notre Dame
We decided to not enter the cathedral as it would have required waiting for some time before it opened.
Much of the remainder of the day was spent in the Casbah (or Kasbah) of Algiers. This is the old part of the city which was previously walled as a fortress but much of the wall has gone or is not easily seen.
Casbah wall
During the times of the Ottomans, the Casbah walls enclosed mosques, palaces, military stations as well as homes some of which were grand and others quite meagre.
In the upper section of the casbah we visited the mosque of the Dey (governor). The Dey was privileged to have a private mosque for use only by him, his four wives and their children. We were not told if the concubines were entitled to use the mosque too! The prayer hall has hexagonal brown floor tiles and walls covered in combinations of blue, green and white tiles. The outer perimeter of the prayer hall has beautifully carved marble pillars most of which have spiralled upper sections representing the tresses of a woman’s hair.
Diana, Chris, Corinne and Jak, Mosque du Dey, Casbah
Stones at centre of spiral pillars to detect any movement, Mosque du Dey, Casbah
Ceramic tiles (green are original), Mosque du Dey, Casbah
On the four sides of the prayer hall were four rooms for the Dey’s four wives and upstairs were the rooms for the concubines, with the most recently selected concubine being offered the best room.
In order to defend the casbah (fortress) the Ottoman Empire had to have a strong military presence and this necessitated gunpowder amongst other things. Within the upper section of the Casbah was a gunpowder factory.
Although the original circular building no longer exists, a modern structure has been built over the top of the former building’s relics.
The floor of the new building has glass sections so we could look down and see parts of the old gunpowder factory. There were large underground areas where gunpowder was stored.
Jak in restored area showing undergroud gunpowder storage, Casbah
Underground gunpowder storage, Casbah
Busy alleyway of restaurant area in the Casbah
Narrow alleyway in the Casbah
We then had a traditional lunchtime meal in a well-to-do family home. The meal started with a rich tomato and herbs soup, traditional bread and spring rolls. The main meal was chicken, noodles, turnip and salad.
Restaurant where we had lunch in the Casbah
Restaurant, where we had lunch in the Casbah
Our meanderings then took us down towards the lower half of the Casbah. There is a wide road, built by the French that separates the upper from lower Casbah regions.
On our meanderings we spoke with a tailor who was sewing a dress and was pleased to see our interest in his skills. We also chatted with a young woman whose shop specialised in perfumes. A man who made leather items was keen to show us his trade and became animated when we said we were from Australia.
Corinne in sewing shop in the Casbah
Corinne with local lady from perfume shop in the Casbah
Leatherman in the Casbah
We then moved on to the Palais of Mustapha Pacha which is one of the most prestigious palaces in the casbah of Algiers.
The palace was built by the Ottoman dey Mustapha Pacha in 1799 and he ruled in Algiers from 1798 until 1805 when he was assassinated by the army of janissaries (elite infantry soldiers).
Palais Mustaph Pacha in the Casbah
The palace is a Moorish palace and now serves principally as a museum. It now has the title of the National Museum of Miniatures, Illumination and Calligraphy. We found many of the exhibits to be incredibly old, interesting and extremely well curated.
Following on from the Pacha’s Palace we passed the 1436 Royal Mosque.
The Royal Family Mosque
We then moved down to the National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Art. The range, age and diversity of exhibits was super impressive.
There were interesting Roman era mosaics; one particularly impressive mosaic showed a doctor giving advice to a sick man.
Mosiac, National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts
A 3000 BC stone sculpture showed a face that appeared to be that of a diver using a snorkel but we’re sure our imagination was running wild.
Man wearing mask carving, National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts
Man wearing mask carving, National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts
The marble sculptures on display, and there were many, mostly came from excavations and recovery from ruins in and around Cherchell which is near Tipasa which we visited yesterday. Statues of Demeter (the goddess of agriculture), Bacchus (the god of wine) and Minerva (goddess of war) were especially ones that caught our eye.
Bacchus (the god of wine), National Museum of Antiquities and Islamic Arts,
Bronze Bacchus, Museum of Islamic Art
The section of the museum covering Islamic Art was not as interesting but that may have been due to us getting weary in the warm to hot afternoon weather. One Islamic item that was of interest was an Imam’s prayer dais dated at 1096. For timbers that are 1100 years old it was in remarkable condition.
Imam’s prayer dais dated at 1096, Museum of Islamic Art
On the final walk to find our van we saw a Christian church that look more like a condensation tower for a nuclear power station. It was the Sacred Heart Cathedral built in 1956.
'Nuclear' church
We returned to our hotel through incredibly dense traffic and then had to say farewell to our super guide Moncef as we have new guide for the remainder of our Algerian visit.
Tomorrow, we head eastwards towards Tunisia and will end the day at Constantine.