Algiers: Rockin’ the Casbah (an old quarter with a difference).

Algeria’s history – from ancient to modern times – is a rich and interesting one. If the internet is to be believed, the first inhabitants here appeared some 300-400 thousand years ago! That means that before it was conquered by the Romans, several ancient states had already existed on the territory. After the Roman colonial period came barbarians, followed by Byzantines; next there was the Arab expansion, and that was followed by a succession of the Spanish, Turks, and finally the French. Then, in 1962, after an eight-year war against the latter, Algeria gained its independence.

Given such a rich history, there’s plenty of it to check out as a tourist! And of course there’s the Sahara desert with all its sand-and-rock beauty, and sensational sunsets and sunrises. Alas, my business schedule was full and hectic – lots of meetings, getting acquaintends, discussions, and a regional partner conference, so we couldn’t check all that much out. We had to settle for micro-tourism: a brief stroll around the capital, Algiers. All righty – off we pop…

First up – Maqam Echahid: the monument commemorating the Algerian War ->

It was opened in 1982 on the 20^th anniversary of the country gaining its independence. It’s made up of three stylized palm leaves, a soldier at the bottom of each, and an eternal flame in the center. It also features an amphitheater and an underground museum…

Guess what rifle the bronze soldiers are holding ->

Tea and nuts? Well why not?!…

In one direction from the monument – a salubrious district:

In another – the city and port:

Zooming in, we see an over-abundance of satellite dishes (and laundry drying!) ->

We continue our stroll around Algiers – the three-million-strong capital on the Mediterranean…

Next up – the Casbah of Algiers. A UNESCO world heritage site, it’s the old citadel of the city and the traditional quarter around it – once used by pirates and slave traders. I won’t get into its checkered past, but I will show you some photos of what it looks like today ->

Old town, new port; to the left on the horizon – the minaret of the capital’s main mosque:

The more you zoom in – the nicer the buildings appear:

…A little more zoomed in and – not quite so nice >

There’s the Casbah – where we were headed ->

Now these narrow, cobblestoned streets look old! ->

Residential buildings ->

Many buildings in the old quarter are in ruins. This one, for example, was destroyed in the earthquake of 2003 ->

Earthquakes are rather common here, since the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet here. In 2010 there were some more bad ones.

In “old towns” like this one across Europe, there are normally plenty of tourists milling about, with the respective souvenir shops, cafes, and other touristy attractions. Curiously, here there are very few tourists – which gives a completely different effect ->

Some side streets are covered with structures to form tunnels ->

…There were different reasons for this – including when neighboring families decided to become relatives!

We leave the Casbah…

…And move to the modern center of the capital:

Here’s La Grande Poste D’Alger in Moorish Revival style (built in 1910) ->

Grand:

…Round the corner – less so:

And that was that. Brief Algiers walkabout – done. Time to be heading back to the airport, which, it turned out, was bereft of the usual duty-free shops! ->

Well – they were there, but all closed up:

There are a few cafes – but that’s it! Very strange. Think of all the money that could be made – for some reason all forfeited!…

From the plane ->

مع السلامة, Algiers; shame we couldn’t stay longer…