Ketchaoua Mosque

Ketchaoua Mosque – جامع كتشاوة
The Ketchaoua Mosque of Algiers (cathedral during French rule) in Algeria, 1899
Basic information
Location	Casbah, Algiers, Algeria
Affiliation	Islam
Architectural description
Architectural type	Mosque
Architectural style	Moorish and Byzantine.
Completed	1612
Minaret(s)	2

The Ketchaoua Mosque (Arabic: جامع كتشاوة‎‎, Djamaa Ketchaoua) is a mosque in Algiers, the capital of Algeria. It is located at the foot of the Casbah, which was built during the Ottoman rule in the 17th century, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mosque that stands on the first of the Casbah’s many steep stairways, was logistically and symbolically the cynosure of the pre-colonial city of Algiers. The mosque is noted for its unique fusion of Moorish and Byzantine architecture.

The mosque was originally built in 1612. Later, in 1845, it was converted during French rule, to the Cathedral of St Philippe, which remained so until 1962. It was reconverted into a mosque in 1962. In spite of these transitions over two different religious faiths in the last about four centuries, the mosque has retained its original grandeur and is one of the major attractions of Algiers.

Ketchaoua Mosque is located in the historic Casbah in Algiers, which is located in the northern part of the city. It is located approximately 250 metres west of the Great Mosque of Algiers, located near the Archbishop's Palace of Algiers and the National Library of Algeria. The mosque, built during the rule of the Ottoman Empire, was once at the centre of the city. Its strategic location, standing on the first of the Casbah’s stairways which led to the five gates of the city in the aristocratic district where the rich and the famous royal family members of the Ottoman Regency, political prominence and other rich business magnates lived. It was built on the site of an Icosium; the original Phoenician settlement existed at the site of the mosque in the past.

The Casbah (means fortress), next to the Mediterranean Sea shore, is a unique kind of medina, or Islamic city which preceded the construction of the Ketchaoua Mosque at its centre. It overlooking the islands where a Carthaginian trading-post was established in the 6th century BC but the city of Algiers was only founded in the 10th century by the Zirids; over the next several centuries successive rule under the Berbers, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and Spaniards left their impact here.