Name of Monument:

Palace of the Raïs

Also known as:

Bastion 23

Location:

Algiers, Algeria

Date of Monument:

Hegira 10th century / AD 16th century

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman

Patron(s):

Ramdan and Mustafa Pasha.

Description:

The Palace of the Raïs, also known as toppana (battery) or Bastion 23, consists of a complex of four palaces and several houses, erected on the seafront on an area of more than half a hectare. Built in the AH 10th / AD 16th century on the command of Ramdan and Mustafa Pasha, it was inhabited by raïs and seafarers. Along with the Great Mosque and the Mosque of the Fisheries, it escaped the demolition of the 'marine quarter' undertaken during the first few years of French Occupation. It is an attractive site whose restoration in the 1990s instigated a widespread academic debate, but it accurately reproduced the atmosphere of both the internal and the external spaces, with equal success: the faïence wall cladding, woodwork, wrought iron bars, the marble, corbels, alleyways and other sabbat (covered passageways).

The Raïs Palace, also known as 'Bastion 23' is a complex of four palaces and several houses built on the seafront in the AH 10th / AD 16th century on the orders of Ramdan and Mustafa Pasha.

How Monument was dated:

By cross-checking historical source material and through stylistic analysis.

Selected bibliography:

Cresti, F., Contributions à l'histoire d'Alger, Rome, 1993.
Golvin, L., Palais et demeures d'Alger à la période ottomane, Aix-en-Provence, 1988.
Missoum, S., Alger à l'époque ottomane, Aix-en-Provence; Algiers, 2003.

Citation of this web page:

Ali Lafer "Palace of the Raïs" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;dz;Mon01;9;en

Prepared by: Ali LaferAli Lafer

Architecte diplômé de l'École nationale d'architecture et des beaux-arts d'Alger, stagiaire du Centre international pour la conservation et la restauration des biens culturels (ICCROM) à Rome, Ali Lafer a été architecte en chef des Monuments au ministère de la Culture pendant son service civil. Directeur de l'Atelier Casbah chargé des études d'aménagement de la médina d'Alger, il a également enseigné au cours de Tunis pour la formation d'architectes du patrimoine maghrébin. Membre fondateur de l'association “Les amis du Tassili”, il est aussi chercheur dans les domaines de la numérisation de la documentation graphique et du relevé photogrammétrique.
Copyedited by: Margot Cortez
Translation by: Maria Vlotides
Translation copyedited by: Monica Allen

MWNF Working Number: AL 10