SACRÉ-CŒUR CATHEDRAL (MUNICIPAL LIBRARY)

This cathedral was the second cathedral of the city during the French period, rebuilt in 1831 by the French on the remains of an old Spanish church built in 1509 but which had been largely destroyed by the earthquake of 1790. Its construction began on April 20, 1903 and was completed on February 9, 1913. It was consecrated on April 9, 1930.

Of a Romanesque-Byzantine style, it was designed by the architect Albert Ballu and the work was carried out by the construction company of the brothers Auguste and Gustave Perret.

The Crypt of the cathedral was completed in 1906 (currently a media library) and the great Cavaillé-Coll-Mutin organ was inaugurated on February 3, 1918.

The cathedral became a regional library in 1984, then a municipal library in 1996. This change of status was made possible by Mgr Claverie, bishop of Oran, who entrusted the Sacred Heart Cathedral to the commune in 1983. It now houses a library. At the top of a vast staircase, the porch is dominated by a pediment decorated with delicate mosaics with blue and off-white motifs enhanced with gold. The facade is delimited by two square brick bell towers topped by a stone cross still in place. In the nave, three domes precede the choir, which takes place under a large dome. The square was once decorated with an equestrian statue of Joan of Arc, which gave its name to the square lined with thickly shaded ficus trees and palm trees.