Notre Dame d'Afrique

Notre Dame d'Afrique stands on a cliff above the sea north-west of central Algiers, built between 1858 and 1872 in a Byzantine-influenced manner with a silver dome and a wide terrace, and it is best known for the inscription in the apse behind the altar, which asks the Virgin to pray for us and for the Muslims, placed there deliberately and kept ever since. The interior holds a black Madonna above the altar and walls of ex-voto plaques left by sailors and families. The basilica was closed for years by structural damage and reopened after a long restoration completed around 2010. The terrace looks straight down the bay toward the city.

History

Louis-Antoine-Augustin Pavy, Bishop of Algiers from 1846 to 1866, prepared the way for the basilica, and it was inaugurated in 1872 after fourteen years of building, to a Neo-Byzantine design by Jean-Eugène Fromageau, chief architect for church buildings in French Algeria from 1859, with the choir unusually facing south-east. On 15 April 1876 Pope Pius IX granted it the title of basilica and the crowning of its image of the Virgin, which Archbishop Charles Lavigerie carried out on 30 April 1876. The organ, built in 1911 and inaugurated by Camille Saint-Saëns at the home of the Englishman Albert Weddell, was given by his widow in 1930, and after damage in the Boumerdès earthquake of 2003 a three-year restoration costing 5.1 million euros began in 2007 (Wikipedia, Notre-Dame d'Afrique).

The main sights

• The apse inscription - the prayer for us and for the Muslims.
• The black Madonna - the figure above the altar.
• Walls of ex-voto plaques - offerings left by sailors and families.
• The cliff terrace - the view down the bay to Algiers.

When to go

October to May. Two hours including the trip out. It is a working church with services; visiting is around them. Modest dress is appropriate.

Good to know

Getting there means a taxi or a slow bus and the road is congested. Opening hours are limited and it closes over lunch. The surrounding area has little else. Photography inside may be restricted during services.

Nearby

Bologhine is below; central Algiers lies south-east.

Key facts