Algeria,The city of Algiers

The city of Algiers

The city of Algiers is the political capital, administrative and economic of Algeria, is located on the Mediterranean. Algiers is nicknamed El Bahdja or as Alger La Blanche because of the local architecture and colonial buildings sparkling white. In Roman times the city was called Iscosium. The population of the city of Algiers is estimated at about 1.5 million inhabitants (Alger Centre) on the agglomeration of Greater Algiers can be estimated at 4,000,000 inhabitants. Algiers is a great Mediterranean port and the main port of the country including a traffic 18,000 000 t of goods in 2010. The main industries of Algiers are metallurgy, oil refining, petrochemical and food . The main export products are cereals, oil, vegetables, citrus fruit, wine, phosphates and iron. There are a lot of interesting things to see and do in Algiers, visitors can learn a lot about the Algiers history by visiting the many museums scattered throughout the city. In addition to the museums, Algiers has a set of monuments and historic buildings legacy of a long history as the Casbah, Notre Dame d'Afrique, the Great Mosque ...

The typical French colonial buildings mingle with Algerian constructions with perfect harmony painted a gleaming white giving Algiers sea air and a unique purity.

The city of Algiers is a maze of alleys and dead ends, stairs, many and varied (wide, narrow, high) are very convenient to travel around this architecture waterfalls.

Algiers is mostly a city of young people, students who go out and live!

Life is hectic in Algiers, economic, scientific, social and cultural activity is very rich.

Cultural festivals, sporting events and other music concerts are always joyfully celebrated.

The Places to Visit in Algiers

Algiers is built on an exceptional site in front of the mediterranean sea. The modern part of the city is built on the plateau at the sea, the old part, the ancient city of deys is built at the steep hill behind the modern town and is crowned by the Kasbah 122 meters above the Wed.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Africa in Algiers:

Our Lady of Africa, formerly known as "Lady of Africa" or "Lella Miriam" by the Algiers is located in the district of Z'Ghara, it rises to 124 meters above sea level and dominates thereby neighborhoods west of Algiers. The basilica was completed in 1872 after 14 years of work, it is the work of French architect Jean Eugène Fromageau. The exterior is built in a Byzantine style, when inside she is inspired by Moorish architecture.

Our Lady of Africa is mostly a shrine to Mary, mother of Jesus. Behind the altar in the apse wall of a maxim inscribed in French, Arabic and Berber says: "Our Lady of Africa pray for us and for Muslims. "Over time the building is constantly degraded in November 2006, the EU, the French Government and the city of Algiers agreed to share the cost of restoring the building. The work was entrusted to a French company that partners with Algerian companies. Young end of the Casbah are trained for careers in stone carving and masonry on ancient heritage. The restoration works were ended in summer 2010. The Basilica is open to visitors from 11am to 12.30pm and from 15h to 17h30. Daily Mass is 18h

The Garden of Algiers:

Le Jardin d'Essai, situated in the Hamma district is a botanical gem of over 3000 plant species providing a breath of fresh air in the center of Algiers. The creation of the Jardin d'Essai was decided in 1832 by the French General Avisard. At its inception the park had an area of 5 hectares. Since the Garden did not cease to grow and now covers an area of 32 hectares. Originally the garden was especially created in the hope of improving crop yields in agriculture. The west side of the garden is occupied by the French garden. In the center is the large driveway of plane trees. To the east is the old garden. What attracts the eye of the visitor is the contrast between the French garden well cut and arranged in tiers and the rest of the garden or tree trunks to form tortuous and tropical flora plunge you into an exotic plant world unknown in the region globe.

The Algiers Test Garden is deemed to be one of the most beautiful gardens in the world. Since November 2011, the Garden is now served by the Algiers metro station. The garden tour is a must do in Algiers.

Bab el oued:

Bab el Oued is a popular area which extends from the Casbah beyond "the gate of the river", famous for its place "the three clocks" and his "Triolet market," it is also a district workshops and factories.

La Casbah:

The Casbah (which means "Citadel") is the ancient citadel of Algiers, we gradually Appella the Casbah wide area around the citadel. The Casbah of Algiers was founded on the ruins of the ancient city founded by the Romans, Icosium. Built on a hill, down to the sea and divided into two: the upper and lower Casbah Casbah. It contains buildings and mosques of the 17th century; Ketchaoua the mosque (built in 1794 by the Dey Baba Hassan) flanked by two minarets, mosque el Djedid (built in 1660, when the Turkish regency) with its large ovoid dome and four cupolas, the mosque El Kebir (the oldest mosques, it was built by the Almoravid ruler Yusuf ibn Tashfin and later rebuilt in 1794), the mosque Ali Betchnin (Rais, 1623), Dar Aziza palace Jenina. The Citadel the top of its 125 meters dominates the whole area of the Kasbah. The neighborhood of the Casbah was classified in 1992 on the list of UNESCO World Heritage.

Against the massif of Bouzaréah, and near the rich Mitidja plain, the Algiers Casbah was built on a steep slope (118 m elevation) facing the harbor bay and the Mediterranean. In the Casbah, the principles of the Turkish military architecture are combined with Moorish architectural traditions and wider Arab Mediterranean. The white houses with flat roofs topped terraces, shake and intertwine throughout the slope. Great monuments, often decorated with carved woodwork and pottery, gardens and fountains punctuate the landscape and contribute to its intensity: the Great Mosque (XI XIV c.), Mosque Sidi Abd al-Rahman (XVIII century.) the mosque Ketchaoua (XVIII XIX c.) and the Dar al-Aziza Bent Bey (sixteenth palace c.) are among them. "The Casbah is an outstanding example of a type of building or architectural ensemble which illustrates a significant stage in history" (IV). It also offers "an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement representative of a culture and become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change" (V).

Great Post:

La Grande Poste Algiers is a magnificent and imposing building not to be missed during your visit to Algiers. Built in 1910 on the site of an old Turkish fort by French architects and Voinot Toudoire, neo-Moorish style building is a symbol of oriental architectural style of the time required by the Governor General in Jonnart reconciliation worries between settlers and Algerians.

The interior is beautiful and of great refinement is inspired by the Hispano-Moorish style of Andalusia. The external façade with its typical Moorish domes, minarets, marble staircase and large wooden doors. The mailboxes of the time that are near the entrance are also worth a look.

Makam El Shaheed (Martyr Memorial):

The Martyr Memorial is a memorial commemorating the war in Algeria for independence. The monument was inaugurated in 1982 for the 20th anniversary of the independence of Algeria. The monument is located on the heights of Algiers, in the municipality of El Madania near Riadh El Feth mall. It overlooks the neighborhood Hamma (Municipality of Belouizdad) and the Test Garden. The monument was erected on the site of a former military fort. The monument was entrusted to the Canadian company Lavalin. Several Algerian artists participate as Yelles Bachir Skander Abdelhamid and calligrapher.

The monument with a height of 92 meters consists of three palm leaves that meet at mid-height of an Islamic-style turret with a diameter of 10 meters and a height of 7.6 meters and topped a dome of 6 meters. The edge of each palm leaf stands a statue of a soldier, each representing a stage in the struggle for the independence of Algeria. It rests on an esplanade or burning an eternal flame. Below the monument is such a crypt, an amphitheater and museum Mujahid Nine months (November 15, 1981 to July 5, 1982) were necessary to build this architectural work.

History of Algiers

French bombardment during the capture of Algiers in 1830

Legend has it that there very long 20 companions of the hero Hercules sailed in the Bay of Algiers and decided to settle. The Phoenicians used it as a relay between Algiers Carthage in the East and the columns of Hercules to the west. For many centuries Algiers was a disputed practice anchor the great powers - the Romans took in 146 BC and named Icosium the Vandals in the 5th century AD, Byzantines in the 6th century took over and developed a small Christian community, and in 650 became Alger now under Arab control. Until the 10th century the town remained insignificant until the leader of the Berber Bologhin ibn Ziri took control of the region in 970 years after the Fatimids moved their capital in Mahdia (Tunisia) to Cairo, Ibn Ziri named El-Djezaïr city, as it is still called today.

The sultans of Tlemcen, Fez and elsewhere have always ensured they had control of the port of Algiers, which had only a local strategic importance. That all changed in the 16th century, when the great powers of the Mediterranean, Spanish, French, Venetians, the Genoese and the Ottomans fought for control of the seas. In 1510, the Spaniards took the control of Algiers, but eight years later, residents said they were subjects of the Ottoman sultan and called Greek pirates, Aroudj and his younger brother Kheireddin Barbarossa to protect them. After Aroudj was killed fighting the Spaniards Barbarossa continued the fight and he finally defeated the Spaniards yet far more powerful in 1529, and he established the regency of Algiers. Following this he was promoted admiral of the Ottoman navy.

Barbarossa had built in the port with its protective arm ending in a lighthouse, the houses of the Casbah huddled slope of the hill, the look and fortifications on the hill where the citadel stands now. The site was ideal, the place well planned and for 300 years, El-Djezaïr remained a Mediterranean pirate base that even the mighty British Navy was unable to destroy. Under Mohamed bin Osman Khodja, Dey from 1766 to 1791, Algiers prospered in a well-fortified city of 100,000 inhabitants. During this period the city of Algiers became very wealthy, she demanded tribute from passing ships and beware of those who refused to pay the price: the goods of the boat was confiscated and the sailors captured and sold as a slave. It was during this period that most of the city of Algiers of the most interesting buildings were constructed.

British Admiral Nelson bombarded the port of Algiers in 1804, hoping to put an end to piracy and the slave trade, it did not work. In 1815 it was the turn of Commodore Decatur and its American squadron: they captured the Algerian flagship and forced the Dey of Algiers agreement to end piracy and slavery. Decatur was dubbed the "conqueror of the Barbary pirates." In August of the following year, the British and Dutch squadron were sent to secure the release of the British Consul and over 1000 other Christian captives in the city. The commander of British ships, the Admiral Pellew, bombarded the city until the submission and forca dey abandon his palace.

The continued threat of piracy in the south of the Mediterranean has provided a pretext to attack France. Their hope was also to counteract British influence in the Mediterranean through control of the southern Straits of one of the narrowest parts of the sea. June 14, 1830, a force of 37,612 French landed on the beach of Sidi Ferruch just north of the city. The French said they had no initial plan to establish a colony, but in 1834 they officially annexed much of North Algeria, Algiers making the capital of their new colony.

The city was rebuilt under French rule. The citadel, with its strategic position has been strengthened to ensure safety and a great bass Casbah area was demolished to make way for new roads. After the French Emperor Napoleon III and his wife, Empress Eugenie, visited the city in 1860, she decided the layout of the area south of the Kasbah as New Town, with wide boulevards and large buildings. Algiers was, in the words of an old settler sifting through her memories, "one of the most beautiful French cities ever built before." Algiers became part of metropolitan France, unlike other cities under French control in North Africa, such as Tunis and Casablanca, which were simple colonies.

During World War II, Algiers became a strategically important city with the establishment of the basis of Charles de Gaulle and his Free French Army and the headquarters of US and British generals. Winston Churchill and General Eisenhower were among the power players who have spent time in Algiers from 1943 to the end of the war.

Although Algiers was quieter than other northern cities, in the War of Independence, it became in the late 1950s the epicenter of a more active struggle to free the country of the colonizers who eventually led to independence in 1962.

Now the city of Algiers is a modern city with all basic facilities and a youth that only wait to live in peace.