Bardo Museum of Algiers

The Bardo is the national museum of prehistory and ethnography, and half the interest is the building: an Ottoman-period villa built as a country house outside the old city, with a courtyard on columns, tiled dados, painted wooden ceilings, a garden and a small pavilion, later extended and turned to museum use. The collections cover Saharan prehistory, with stone tools, rock art copies and the material of the wetter periods, alongside ethnographic displays of Tuareg, Kabyle, Chaoui and Mozabite dress, jewellery, weapons and household objects from across the country. It is a compact museum, and it is the best single introduction in Algiers to the regions most visitors will not reach.

The main sights

• An Ottoman villa as the museum - courtyard, tilework and painted ceilings.
• Saharan prehistory - stone tools and material from the wetter periods.
• Regional dress and jewellery - Tuareg, Kabyle, Chaoui and Mozabite collections.
• The garden and pavilion - the grounds behind the house.

When to go

Year round. Two hours. Closed on some days and over public holidays; check before travelling. Photography rules vary.

Good to know

Displays are dated and labelling is thin, mostly in French and Arabic. Some rooms are closed. Opening hours change without notice. The collection is small compared with the building's reputation.

Nearby

The Jardin d'Essai is south-east; central Algiers lies north.

Key facts