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Dar Hassan Pacha
The building beside the Ketchoua Mosque was once the city's grandest mansions and carries the name of its original owner, Dar Hassan Pacha. Hassan was the ruler or Dey of Algiers, a man with a sense of purpose - in 1795 he concluded a peace treaty with the fledgling United States of America guaranteeing their ships safe passage in Algiers' waters. Before that, around 1791, he began his palace on the edge of the Casbah, but away from the waterside, which was vulnerable and damp in winter.
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Grande Poste
A post office might not be high on everyone's list of things to see, but Grande Poste, completed in 1908 after eight years of construction, is a classic piece of French-inspired hispano-Moorish architecture and is worth a brief visit, even if you don't need stamps or a phone card. One of the world's most elaborate post boxes is near the entrance, while the facade carries the names of Algeria's principal towns and cities.
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Jardin d'Essai
Another grand civic project planted by the French, the Jardin d'Essai dates to the first years of their occupation. In the early 1830s, as soon as the French were in control of Algiers, land was set aside for a model farm and a garden in which they could try out various plants. The idea was to test what would grow best here, given the soil and climate, in the hope of improving crop yields and greening the landscape.
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Palais des Raïs
So many of Algiers' historic buildings are either derelict, undergoing renovation or newly restored but closed to visitors, that it comes as a relief to find the Palais des Raïs open. The palace is in fact a row of several large waterfront houses, joined up to form a single compound and now home to the Centre des Arts et de la Culture. Palace 18, the main building, was begun in 1750 and completed around 1798 by the Dey Mustapha Pacha, who used it as one of his residences.
Showing 1-4 of 4 results
