Les abords de la citadelle d’Alger au XIXème siècle

Abstract

The surroundings of the Algiers’s citadel in the nineteenth centuryThe major works undertaken between 1817 and 1830 transformed the citadel of Algiers into a most important place of sovereignty and power, boasting different administrative, economic and religious centres. However, today, the physiognomy of the surroundings of this palace-fortress is marked by the upheaval of the French colonial period between 1830 and 1870. The creation of the Boulevard de la Victoire and the demolition, for security reasons, of the surrounding buildings, definitively altered the landscape and urban typology of the Ottoman period. This article examines the urban fabric of the ancient surroundings of the Citadel and their transformation during the nineteenth century. It traces back the development of the surroundings, and explains the reasons behind their demolition. The study tries also to give an assessment of the principle characteristics of the architectural components within their urban fabric.