Kasbah of Algiers - (World Heritage Site in Algeria)

Brief Report

The Kasbah is a unique type of medina, or islamic city. It is located in one of the most beautiful coastal areas in the Mediterranean Sea, with views of the islands where a Carthaginian trading-post was founded in the 4th century BC. There are the remains of the citadel, the old mosques and Ottoman palaces, as well as the remains of a traditional urban structure associated with a deep sense of community.

Wonderful Universal Importance

Brief synthesis

The Kasbah of Algiers is an excellent example of a historic city Maghreb has enormous influence on the urban planning in the western part of the Mediterranean Sea and in Africa south of the Sahara. Indeed, located on the Mediterranean sea, the site was inhabited in any case from the 6th century BC when the Phoenician trading post was established. The term Kasbah, that originally designated the highest point of the medina during the Zirid era, now applies to the ensemble of the old center of El Djazair, within the limits indicated by the ramparts and built at the end of the 16th century, which dates back to the Ottoman period.

In this environment where nearly 50,000 people live, very interesting traditional houses, palaces, hammams, mosques and various souks are still preserved, the urban form of which is a reflection of a effect of stratification of different styles in a complex and original system that adapted remarkably well on a very hilly and rough terrain.

Wide Report

The Kasbah of Algiers is a unique form of medina, or islamic city. As such, it is an excellent example of a historic Maghreb city with specific characteristics related to the natural location and history of the city, despite the devastation caused by poor preservation of the old urban fabric. The Kasbah jam very interesting traditional Arab Mediterranean houses in which the ancestral Arab lifestyle and Muslim customs has mixed with other architectural traditions. It is located in one of the most beautiful coastal areas in the Mediterranean Sea, with views of the islands where a Carthaginian trading-post was founded in the 4th century BC. The Kasbah with the remains of the citadel, the old mosques and Ottoman palaces as well as the remnants of a traditional urban structure associated with a deep sense of community.

The history of Algiers is even more complex and turbulent than that of the entire country. Located on the seafront, the site was inhabited by at least the 6th century BC, when the Phoenician trading post was established. Carthaginians, various Berber tribes, Romans, Byzantines and Arabs (from the 7th century) took turns coveting and ultimately the city. Spain the expansionist policy was also Algeria and benefited from weakness under local powers by rivalry between the smaller countries of the Maghreb which emerged from the Berber invasions. A Turk corsair, Khair Razi-al-Din founded his capital in Algiers (1516) and has a large part of the modern Algerian coast depending on the Ottoman Sultan. The central authority in Istanbul intervened relatively little in management of the region and the Bey declared as master in the city where the military power and forces large economic prosperity.

The construction of the city began in 1516 and lasted until the 17th century. Although the administrative and military organization implied the presence of many Turks, Algiers was not an Ottoman city. The city combined with the science of the Turkish military architecture with mediterranean architectural tradition. The flourishing condition of the trade is expressed in terms of the extreme wealth of the establishment of houses in Algiers. The unique nature reserve is the reason for the winding streets, true meanders which are characteristic of the old city.

The European misunderstanding of the Arab life on one hand, and, on the other hand, settlers' desire for their own practices and architectural and urban aesthetics combined to severe destruction. Fortunately, a part of the city was saved. In the 1920s, real interest showed in the safeguarding of the old city. However, the Algerian authorities ordered the first studies to protect the Algiers Kasbah only in the early 1970s. At that time, it was classified as a historic location and a comprehensive restoration plan was established for the old town.  A very intelligent redevelopment plan is to introduce in the Kasbah, modern comfort without disturbance of the traditional urban planning and architecture, and restore the Kasbah's original functions: residential, commercial and cultural circles.