Djamaa el Djazair

Djamaa el Djazair stands on the eastern side of the bay of Algiers, structurally completed in 2019 and formally inaugurated in 2024, and it is very large by any measure: a prayer hall for tens of thousands under a wide dome, a courtyard, a library, a museum of Islamic art and a research centre, laid out on a long axis facing the sea. Its minaret rises 265 metres, which makes it the tallest minaret in the world, with a viewing level and a lift. The design draws on Andalusian and Maghrebi motifs worked at a scale that is entirely modern, in white concrete, marble and cut plaster, with landscaped grounds along the front.

History

The project to give Algiers a grand mosque was presented as an initiative of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and a German consortium of KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten and Krebs und Kiefer won the international design competition in January 2008. China State Construction Engineering built it, casting the first concrete foundations on 16 August 2012, with French engineering firms later checking the plans and the works, and the Algerian state paid for it, at an official cost of 898 million dollars, after seven years of construction that drew criticism for its scale and expense. It has the tallest minaret in the world at 265 metres and a prayer hall of 22,000 square metres for 120,000 worshippers (Wikipedia, Djamaa el Djazaïr).

What's there

• A 265-metre minaret - the tallest of its kind anywhere.
• The prayer hall under its dome - capacity in the tens of thousands.
• Andalusian and Maghrebi motifs at scale - traditional detail worked in modern materials.
• The sea frontage - the axis running toward the bay.

When to go

October to May. Two to three hours. Visiting is outside prayer times and around Friday prayers. Modest dress is required. Access arrangements for the minaret change; check locally.

Things to know

Access rules for non-Muslims and for the minaret have changed repeatedly since opening and are not reliable. The scale means a lot of walking on open ground with little shade. Parts of the complex including the museum have opened slowly.

Nearby

Central Algiers is west; the bay runs along the front.

Key facts