The Palais des Raïs or Bastion 23, is one of the symbolic historical monuments of the city of Algiers and represents one of the last witnesses of the geographical extension of the Kasbah to the sea.
Located at the lower Kasbah, the history of the palace dates back to the 16th century, during the Ottoman period of the Regency of Algiers, the reinforcement of the ramparts of the medina.
The Raïs palace is made up of three palaces (palace 17 containing the remains of Roman baths, 18 and 23) as well as six douerates or traditional Moorish houses (houses 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15). The palace houses pieces of artillery erected by Raïs Arnaute Mami. Albanian renegade who became head of the fleet of the Regency of Algiers, the latter was notably famous for the capture of the Spanish galley El sol in 1575, on board of which the writer Miguel de Cervantes appeared.
From 1830, the date of the start of French colonization, Palace 18 housed the residence of the Commander of Civil Engineering, the Consulate of the United States of America and a municipal library.
It was not until 1980 that the Ministry of Culture began to take steps to restore the monument which, from 1994, housed the Center for Arts and Culture of the Palais des Rais.
The palace was classified as a national heritage in 1991 and a UNESCO universal heritage in 1992.
