A city is not built in a day. Besides the brick and mortar it is built of, a city is the sum total of the numerous civilizations and cultures of its visitors, traders, raiders and conquerors. Algiers, the capital and the largest city of Algeria, has a long history of foreign rule by powers such as the Ottoman and the French. The Romans, Berber Arabs, Turks and Barbary pirates have colonized the city for centuries.
The word Algiers derives from the Arabic name Al-Jazair which means ‘the islands’, referring to the four islands that became part of the mainland in 1525. The city was built in 944 by Bologhine ibn Ziri, a ruler from the Zirid dynasty. Algiers is founded on the Sahel Hills and the city runs for some 16 kilometres along the Bay of Algiers.
The city is known for the white-washed buildings of the Kasbah, Ottoman palaces and ruined citadels. The city has the first sea port in the country.
Since the last rulers of Algeria were the French, there is a lot of French architecture in the city. Notre Dame d’Afrique, Monument des Martyrs and the El Jedid mosque are some of the popular tourist destinations of the city.
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