Sights in Oran
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Chateau Neuf
Much of the area around the headland overlooking the port is a military zone, but don't let that stop you visiting the misnamed Chateau Neuf, which is in fact the old, 14th-century fort of Merinid Sultan Abou Hassan.
reviewed
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Pasha’s Mosque
The Pasha’s Mosque, below the western side of the Chateau Neuf, was built in 1797, as its foundation inscription attests, by ‘the great, the elevated, the respectable and useful, our master Sidi Hassan Bacha’. In better condition than the palace, it reflects in its elegance and lightness the joy at the city’s liberation from foreign rule.
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Musée National Ahmed Zabana
The main museum is little-visited by foreigners, but the Musée National Ahmed Zabana is one of the keys to understanding the city, although the collection doesn’t always live up to the grandeur of the building. A large 1st-floor room tells the local story of the battle for independence, most moving being the list of local people executed by the French between 1954 and 1962. The extensive, neglected natural history collection includes giant lobsters and calamari and, in the basement among the stuffed animals, a shark, all caught in the bay. More interesting are the ancient sculptures, some good mosaics and terracotta portraits. The paintings are more surprising, being a…
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Place 1 Novembre
Oran's main square, the Place 1 Novembre, is the definitive expression of French rule in Oran. The city's main meeting place (called pl Napoleon, pl d'Armes and pl Maréchal Foch at various times in its history), it has a baroque theatre on one side and the town hall on the other, which was the city's main meeting place. In the middle of the square stands an obelisk topped with a Winged Victory, erected by French sculptor Dalou in 1898.
The original work commemorated the French soldiers who died at the battle of Sidi-Brahim in 1845. After independence the French sculpture was replaced by busts of the Sufi saint Moulay Abdelkader. The town hall, which Camus thought…
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Bey’s Palace
Much of the area around the headland overlooking the port is a military zone, but don’t let that stop you visiting the misnamed Chateau Neuf (New Castle), which is in fact the old, 14th-century fort of Merinid Sultan Abou Hassan. While some of the complex is closed, the Bey’s Palace is open, in spite of closed gates (you may have to shout for the guard). The massive walls were first built in the 1340s by Merinid Sultan Abou Hassan and reinforced by the Spaniards in 1509, by the Ottomans in the 1700s and the French in the 19th century. The location is perfect, above the town, port and sea, and the gateway is impressive, but there is little majesty left in the building,…
reviewed