Casbah Copperware Lanes

The Casbah of Algiers has always been a place of trades organised by street, and the copper and brass workers are among the few whose lanes still function. In small ground-floor workshops sheets are cut, beaten over stakes into trays, ewers, coffee pots and lamps, then engraved with punches and gravers in the geometric and vegetal patterns of the region, the sound of hammering carrying down the steps. The number of workshops has fallen sharply as the Casbah has emptied and the trade has aged. The arts and practices of engraving on metal in gold, silver and copper were inscribed on the UNESCO intangible heritage list, with Algeria among the submitting states.

Highlights

• Sheets beaten over stakes - trays and vessels raised by hand.
• Engraving with punches and gravers - the patterns cut into the metal.
• Workshops opening onto the lanes - the trade street as it survives.
• Coffee pots, trays and lamps - the standard repertoire of the workshops.

When to go

October to May; workshops keep morning and afternoon hours and close on Fridays. Half a day. A local guide makes the Casbah far easier to navigate and to enter.

Before you go

The Casbah is steep, confusing and in poor structural condition, with buildings collapsing; a guide is genuinely advisable. Many workshops have closed. Machine-stamped imports are sold alongside handwork. Photographing residents without asking is resented.

Nearby

Ketchaoua mosque is below; the Palais des Rais lies on the seafront.