{"id":79402,"date":"2023-06-27T21:07:17","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T20:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jazairhope.org\/?p=79402"},"modified":"2023-06-27T21:07:17","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T20:07:17","slug":"empires-of-the-dunes-rediscovering-algerias-ancient-kasbahs-sahara-sands-and-roman-ruins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jazairhope.org\/en\/empires-of-the-dunes-rediscovering-algerias-ancient-kasbahs-sahara-sands-and-roman-ruins\/","title":{"rendered":"EMPIRES OF THE DUNES : Rediscovering Algeria’s ancient kasbahs, Sahara sands and Roman ruins"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Algeria\u2019s litany of invaders have shaped a land where echoes of history\u2019s greatest empires still catch in the desert winds; but visitors today will also discover a country finding its own voice<\/span><\/h4>\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n

At the museum in Dj\u00e9mila I spied a sublime sight. It was a Roman mosaic depicting the licentiousness of the god Bacchus: murder, sacrifice, orgy and wine. It was quite the show. It also caused me to ponder something that, up until then, I hadn\u2019t thought about: how might modern Algeria be represented in tesserae? After some deliberation I decided that, regardless of what was depicted, it would be an utterly mercurial sight. After all, so little is known about Africa\u2019s largest country.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>
\n
\n

The Dj\u00e9mila Museum lies within the ruins of the old town and is filled with mosaics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I started conjuring the Algeria mosaic in my head, piecing together bits of classical civilisations, oases bearing the sweetest dates, Mediterranean sunshine and scorching sands migrating wispily across Saharan dunes like transient djinns. It would be a bit frayed at the edges, representing the turbulent decades that saw this North African behemoth firmly off travellers\u2019 itineraries. But Algeria has changed in recent years. With security vastly improved, its mosaic of historical and cultural wonders is once again reachable \u2013 and barely a three-hour flight from London. It is something that a new vanguard of visitors will be eager to explore, even if procuring a visa is tricky, thanks to the Socialist siege mentality of the ruling regime making it tough for those not travelling as part of an organised tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlgerians are a mixture of many peoples,\u201d said M\u2019hamed Gueraini, a gentle giant of a guide, upon meeting our small group at Algiers airport. \u201cWe\u2019re more Berber and Arabic than French, Roman or Ottoman, but overall, we\u2019re unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>
\n
\n

The Martyrs\u2019 Memorial towers over the city, reminding its citizens of the million lives that were given in the battle for independence from the French in the 1950s and early \u201960s<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That cultural mix quickly materialised on the drive into capital Algiers. M\u2019hamed delivered a potted summary of 3,000 years of history as the city\u2019s denim-blue Mediterranean coastline drew near, beginning his tale in 800 BC. This was when the Phoenicians were trading with Carthage (Tunisia), he said, before Rome conquered all. In turn, the Romans were swept aside by Berber-Arab dynasties, who ushered in Islam. He scarcely need mention later occupations: downtown Algiers revealed lustrous domes dating back to Ottoman rule, while the French colonisation of 1830 was apparent in housing blocks of Neoclassical finery.<\/p>\n

Algiers is a city of hills and caf\u00e9 culture. Every morning, I walked from my hotel in Telemly district to grab a black coffee and a croissant, conjuring memories of Marseilles: the d\u00e9shabill\u00e9 architecture, the horn-blaring traffic and the busy seafront marinas all felt oddly familiar. Yet Algiers\u2019 apogee is found in Martyrs\u2019 Square and its kasbah. Here the Mediterranean sunshine cast shadows from the surrounding minarets and Art Deco architecture onto the city\u2019s main plaza, which was lively in the bustle around the Friday prayer. Families browsed stalls of hanging Deglet-nour dates, Berber costumes and tagine dishes as their children excitedly chased pigeons. But it wasn\u2019t always like this.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>
\n
\n

Life in Algiers kasbah<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIn 1832, the French massacred nearly 4,000 people who were defending the kasbah\u2019s Ketchaoua mosque from being converted into a cathedral,\u201d said M\u2019hamed. In his words I could almost hear the gunfire entering the kasbah, as if the higgledy-piggledy narrow lanes trapped an inescapable palimpsest of history within its labyrinth.<\/p>\n

The kasbah was once called Icosium, a Phoenician port that acquired its current guise as a walled medina around the mid-10th century AD, under the founder of the Berber Zirid dynasty which went on to rule parts of the North African Maghreb. Elsewhere, I had seen medinas so gentrified that they had lost all connection with the past; but here, the surviving mashrabiya (screen balconies) and cramped workshops of woodworkers and brass metalworkers nurtured authenticity in lanes politically charged with murals, such as that of Emir Abdelkader, an Islamic scholar and military leader who unsuccessfully resisted French occupation and died in exile in 1883 in Damascus.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>
\n
\n

A mural of Emir Abdelkader, a religious scholar and military leader who led the struggle against the French invasion of Algeria and has become a powerful symbol of resistance even today<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Secreted within the kasbah were several sumptuous palaces from the era of Ottoman rule (1516-1830), during which Algiers grew rich from trade and piracy along the Barbary Coast. The 1799 palace of the Ottoman governor bore a sumptuous courtyard of marble fountains encircled by columns that supported horseshoe-shaped arches. Its hammam was now a themed restaurant, and over a meal of couscous, grilled vegetables and lamb, M\u2019hamed filled in the blanks. He explained that after France superseded the Ottomans it took over a century for Algerians to revolt against their rulers, with conflict finally erupting in 1954. Independence came eight years later, but at great cost: \u201cOne million Algerians died during the revolution,\u201d he finished.<\/p>\n

Independence unleashed chaotic decades of authoritarian rule, a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat and a vicious civil war against Islamic extremism. \u201cBut things are changing,\u201d said M\u2019hamed. \u201cThe government has been listening to recent peaceful protests for more rights. We call it the \u2018Revolution of Smiles\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n