DAR AZIZA-BENT-EL-BEY
Go there and contact
This architecturally renowned palace houses the Office national de gestion et d'exploitation des biens culturels protégés.
Located opposite the Ketchaoua Mosque, this jewel of Ottoman architecture is, like Dar Ahmed, one of the few buildings of the great Djenina complex , seat of the government and administration of the Regency, to have survived the fire of 1844 and the destruction of the neighborhood by the French in 1856.
Dar Aziza-Bent-El-Bey, which means "Palace of Aziza, daughter of the Bey" would have been built in the XVIth century for Aziza on the occasion of her marriage with the bey of Constantine. It was then used as residence regents of Algiers and to the foreign dignitaries of passage. During the French presence, it became the residence of the bishop then in 1838 the residence of the archbishopric. At independence, it was assigned in turn to the Ministry of Tourism, then to the Algerian Agency of Tourism ... It now houses the National Office for the management and exploitation of protected cultural property.
It is closed, but depending on the mood of the guard, you can discover its courtyard.
Originally, the palace had three floors, the last of which did not withstand the violent earthquake of 1716. Designed according to the architectural principles of the Ottoman period, the residence is articulated around its magnificent patio surrounded by s'hine (galleries), supported by marble columns surmounted by capitals, and decorated with tiles, carved woodwork, claustras... The current door was taken in 1835 on another entrance, during the transformations that removed the annex house. Specialists agree that this is the most beautiful palace of the Kasbah.
