Dar Aziza is a 16th-century

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

palace located in the Casbah of Algiers in

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. Today, it houses the National Agency of Archaeology and Protection of Historic Sites and Monuments. Dar Aziza, arguably the most iconic surviving building of its era in Algiers, was part of a large governmental compound known as Janina Palace, which existed before the arrival of Turkish corsairs.

History

Dar Aziza was part of a large governmental compound known as Janina Palace, which existed before the arrival of Turkish corsairs. It is believed to have been built at some time in the 16th century, though its surrounding environment was significantly modified after the advent of French colonial rule. In the

Ottoman period The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, it would have served to lodge foreign embassies and, in particular, the Fathers of the Order of Mercy who came to negotiate the redemption of Christian captives. According to a 1721 document, the building had three floors before losing one in the 1716 earthquake. According to Henri Klein, this palace was given by the

Dey Dey (Arabic: داي), from the Turkish honorific title ''dayı'', literally meaning uncle, was the title given to the rulers of the Regency of Algiers (Algeria), Tripoli,Bertarelli (1929), p. 203. and Tunis under the Ottoman Empire from 1671 o ...

(probably Dey Hussein) to his daughter Aziza on the occasion of her marriage to the Bey of Constantine. In 1818,

Hussein Dey Hussein Dey (real name Hüseyin bin Hüseyin; 1765 – 1838; ar, حسين داي) was the last Dey of the Deylik of Algiers. Early life He was born either in İzmir or Urla in the Ottoman Empire. He went to Istanbul and joined the Canoneers ( ...

left Jenina Palace for the more secure

Palace of the Dey A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

on a high location dominating the Casbah of Algiers. In 1838, after the French conquest, Dar Aziza became the residence of the Bishop of Algiers and then the archbishopric of Algiers due to its position in front of the cathedral. It was described by the Louis-Antoine-Augustin Pavy as a "jewel of oriental architecture" and was classified as a historic monument in 1887. The other buildings of Janina Palace were largely demolished in 1856 by the French colonial authorities. Since 1962, the palace has been occupied successively by the Ministry of Tourism, the ''Ethaqafa'' magazine and now by the National Agency of Archaeology and Protection of Historic Sites and Monuments.

Architecture

The palace was originally on a sloping site and had several stories. Its original ground floor, somewhat like a basement, contained storerooms, kitchens, stables, and shops along its exterior, but these have since disappeared and the floor above it has become the ground floor. The main building is a two-story structure centered around an internal square courtyard (the ''wast ad-dar'' or 'center of the house'). The courtyard is ringed on all four sides by a two-story gallery with pointed horseshoe arches supported on marble columns. Diverse ceramic tiles, carved stucco,

lattice Lattice may refer to: Arts and design * Latticework, an ornamental criss-crossed framework, an arrangement of crossing laths or other thin strips of material * Lattice (music), an organized grid model of pitch ratios * Lattice (pastry), an orna ...

windows, and a fountain are used for decoration, with the decoration generally increasing in richness on the upper level. The rooms of the upper story are also grander and included the main reception hall. A grand staircase leads from the floor of this courtyard to an annex, the ''dwira'' (also transliterated as ''douira'', meaning a smaller house or apartment), which was partly demolished in the 19th century. The grand staircase itself is unusual in North African domestic architecture of this period and suggests that the builders may have been familiar with European architecture.

References

External links

Casbah of Algiers Palaces in Algeria {{Algeria-struct-stub Ottoman architecture in Algeria