Djemaa Ketchoua

Algiers


Of all the mosques in central Algiers, the Djemaa Ketchoua has had the most turbulent history. Its date of construction is estimated as being around the beginning of the 17th century. Its name translates as place or plateau of goats, a reminder of the time when this space – between the port and citadel – was open ground. The mosque was undergoing extensive renovations at the time of research.

It was remodelled in 1794 by Hassan Pasha, when he built his palace next door. The work is commemorated by a long inscription that begins: ‘What a beautiful mosque!’ Today it seems more unusual than beautiful, with its high steps, three-tiered minarets and part-tiled walls.

A plaque to the left of the great doors notes that on 5 July 1830 a cross was placed on top of the mosque, beginning more than 130 years of French occupation. During this time it served as the city’s cathedral and one of the centrepieces of the French-held city: French artists and sculptors decorated it; Emperor Napoleon III took Mass here in 1860; and the composer Saint-Saëns played the organ here in 1873. The building was reconsecrated as a mosque on 5 July 1962, 132 years to the day after it was converted to a church and just two days after General de Gaulle recognised independent Algeria.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Algiers attractions

1. Dar Hassan Pacha

0.01 MILES

Carrying the name of its original owner, Dar Hassan Pacha, this is one of the city's grandest mansions. The building now houses a collection of…

2. Dar Aziza Bent el-Bey

0.02 MILES

Aziza may have been a bent (daughter) of the bey of Constantine, who built the sumptuous Dar Aziza for her. Its whitewashed facade hides one of the most…

3. Museum of Popular Arts & Traditions

0.11 MILES

This museum is the most accessible of the buildings one can visit in the Casbah. It is housed in a fine example of an Ottoman-period town house, the Dar…

4. Djemma Ali Bitchine

0.11 MILES

The Djemma Ali Bitchine, which dates to 1622, is a mosque with an unusual domed design clearly influenced by Italian or Byzantine churches. That it should…

5. Djemaa el-Djedid

0.12 MILES

Colonial French town planners cleared many Ottoman buildings when they redesigned the Algiers waterfront and laid out what is now the place des Martyrs,…

6. Casbah

0.12 MILES

The heart of the city is its ancient Casbah, a steep and narrow maze of streets just west of the Pl des Martyrs. There are several magnificent Ottoman…

7. Djemaa el-Kebir

0.19 MILES

The city's Grand Mosque has ancient heritage. It's built on a rise above the inner port where early Berber and Phoenician inhabitants built a place of…

8. Palais des Raïs

0.28 MILES

This palace is in fact a row of several large waterfront houses, joined to form a single compound. It is now home to the Centre des Arts et de la Culture,…