''La Consulaire'' is the name of a very large Algerian Barbary artillery piece which famously defended Algiers harbour. It was looted by the French during the Invasion of Algiers in 1830, on 5 July, and taken as a trophy to Brest, where it is still displayed. ''La Consulaire'' is a 23 -feet long smoothed-bore muzzle-loading gun, ordered by

Hasan Pasha (son of Barbarossa) Hasan Pasha (c. 1517 – 4 July 1572) was the son of Hayreddin Barbarossa and three-times ''Beylerbey'' of the Regency of Algiers. His mother was a Morisca or a “Moorish woman from Algiers”. He succeeded his father as ruler of Algiers, and r ...

for the completion of the fortifications of Algiers. It was founded in Algiers in

1542 __NOTOC__ Year 1542 ( MDXLII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * February 2 – Battle of Baçente: The Portuguese under Cristóvão da Gama ...

by a Venetian founder for Hasan Agha. Its original name is ''Baba Marzug'' ("lucky father"). Bombardement d'Alger 1682

The gun was used in 1683 to project the limbs of the consul of France,

Jean Le Vacher Jean Le Vacher (15 March 1619 – 26 July 1683) was a French Lazarist missionary and consul in Tunis and Algiers. He was killed by being attached to an Algerian cannon loaded with shrapnel that was fired when the French fleet bombarded A ...

, towards the fleet of Admiral Duquesne, earning it its name. In 1830, a fleet under Admiral Duperré conquered Algiers and captured the gun. It was brought back to Brest and mounted on a granite stand decorated with high reliefs, and is on display inside the military zone of the Arsenal, near

Recouvrance Bridge The Pont de Recouvrance () is a vertical-lift bridge in Brest, France, across the river Penfeld. Opened on 17 July 1954, it was the largest vertical-lift bridge in Europe until the opening of the Rouen Pont Gustave-Flaubert in 2008. It links ...

Gallery

File:La Consulaire mg 8042.jpg, Base panel: France casting the rays of science unto Africa File:La Consulaire mg 8046.jpg, Base panel: the Army File:La Consulaire mg 8047.jpg, Base panel: the Navy File:La Consulaire mg 8050.jpg, Top of the monument

Sources and references

Wikibrest
{{coord, 48, 23, 10, N, 4, 29, 43, W, region:FR_type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Individual cannons Military history of Algiers Military equipment of Algeria Buildings and structures in Brest, France French conquest of Algeria