Tourism and Preservation in Colonial North Africa
Brian McLaren
Brian L. McLaren is an
Associate Professor in the
Department of Architec-
ture at the University of
Washington, where he
teaches architectural his-
tory, theory, and design.The tourist development of North Africa during the period of colonization is one of
the most interesting and least examined influences on the architecture and urbanism
of the region. Seeking to create a well-organized and efficient tourist system, French
and Italian colonial authorities made a considerable investment in the preservation of
the Islamic architectural heritage — a building tradition that was the most important
attraction for foreign tourists. In visiting the region today, many significant historical
sites as well as much of the tourist infrastructure from the colonial period reflects the
contemporary European attitudes towards Islamic architecture and urbanism. Accord-
ing to this view, the Islamic heritage of North Africa was seen as inferior to and deriva-
tive of Western building traditions.
European colonization was, however, not the
first external influence on the architecture and
urbanism of North Africa, which had for many
centuries been a place of international trade
and exchange. Islamic North Africa was un-
der the control of the Ottoman Empire, whose
presence in the region dates back to 1519.
The nature and extent of foreign intervention
changed decisively with the French invasion of
Algeria in 1830, which was followed by France’s
colonization of Tunisia in 1881 and Morocco
in 1910. After the Italian invasion of Libya in
1911, the region reached a new phase in which
all of its territories were treated as being under
European economic organization and politi-
cal values. In part due to the importance of an
emerging tourist system to the local economies of these colonies, the preservation of
local culture began to be an important consideration in the region’s architecture and
urban planning.
In the French colonies of Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco, the private steamship com-
pany, the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGI), created a coordinated network
of transportation services as early as 1918. This modern tourist system grew rapidly
through the creation of a network of accommodations linked by scheduled bus and
Figure 1: Map of Tourist system in Algeria, Tu-
nisia, and Morocco, from North African Motor
Tours of the Compagnie Générale Transatlan-
tique (London: Hill, Siffken & Co., 1928).