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1..1..Seen as a walled citadel curling around t he bay in this 15th or 16th century map by Turkish artist Piri R eis (opposite),
Algiers' historic Casbah has suffered criminal neglect and is now inter spersed with vacant lots and
loosely crumbling structur es (above) - though life still spills into its streets (below)lgeria is best k nown in t he West for Arab, Berber and Ottoman influence, its
its violent 1954-62 r evolution against histor y dating back to fourth-century BC
Fren ch colonialism, most famously / Carthaginian civilisation.
portrayed in Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 Embedded with heightened meaning by
neo-realist film The B attle of Algie1·s. Kow, sites connected to the r evolutionary war
60 years later, a joyful popular uprising against and excited by r ecent debates about
t he government - t he same party has been in postcoloniality, t he governmental revitalisation
power since t h e 1960s - is being described as project must balance questions of for whom
t he second Algerian revolution, lending t he city should be made - property owners,
potency to plans to update t he city of Algiers residents, t he wider public or tourists - wit h
for a young and restless population. Projects economic questions of how an urgent
like the opening of a modern subway, FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/GETTY IMAGEs renovat ion programme can be accomplished
installation of sandy beaches along the bay, and the building of a vvith limited resources. I t could be a chance to model a deliberative
grand mosque to advocate a moderate vision of Islam have been process and virtuous economic cycle that ·will b e an inspiration for
completed or are nearing completion. This momentum has also the world.
brought renewed attention to the project to revitalise the Casbah, Unlike neighbouring Morocco, t he revolution, fear of terrorism
begun as early as t he 1970s, which up to now has suffered from and restrictive visas have largely limited Westerners' entry into
inadequate funding, mismanagement, policy failures and building Algeria for a half-century, making Algiers refreshingly free of
collapses that, after heavy rainfall in April, killed a family of five. tourism and its attendant pushy guides and salesmen, preying on
An ancient citadel at the eastern tip of the Bay of Algiers, the unsuspecting visitor s. Encounters on the street are unusually free
Casbah is a UJ\TESCO World Heritage Site bearing traces of Roman, from pressure, and there's an en ormous feeling of latent potential