Renovate the Casbah: Efforts Speed Up to Restore Historic Algiers District

A UNESCO-listed rabbit warren of 16th century battlements and Ottoman palaces, the Casbah of the Algerian capital has been falling into disrepair RYAD KRAMDI AFP
A UNESCO-listed rabbit warren of 16th century battlements and Ottoman palaces, the Casbah of the Algerian capital has been falling into disrepair RYAD KRAMDI AFP
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Renovate the Casbah: Efforts Speed Up to Restore Historic Algiers District

A UNESCO-listed rabbit warren of 16th century battlements and Ottoman palaces, the Casbah of the Algerian capital has been falling into disrepair RYAD KRAMDI AFP
A UNESCO-listed rabbit warren of 16th century battlements and Ottoman palaces, the Casbah of the Algerian capital has been falling into disrepair RYAD KRAMDI AFP

A UNESCO-listed rabbit warren of 16th-century battlements and Ottoman palaces, the Casbah of the Algerian capital is falling into disrepair, but efforts to save it have been accelerating.

The densely populated district, about a kilometer (just under a mile) across, perches above the Bay of Algiers and has been the site of key moments in the North African country's history.

Some buildings weakened by earthquakes, floods or fires are still propped up with scaffolding, but a plan launched in 2012 is seeking to rehabilitate the area.

Work to restore the Casbah had first started right after Algeria's independence from France in 1962.

That was some six years after a battle between French colonial forces and the urban guerrillas of the National Liberation Front (FLN), later immortalized in Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 film "The Battle of Algiers", shot on location in the Casbah.

Efforts to restore the buildings involved "several plans and several stakeholders", said Aissa Mesri of Archimed, a firm working on studies of the Casbah and monitoring the work.

"Restoration operations were started and then halted for financial, technical or legal reasons related to ownership," he added, lamenting the lack of a "clear vision" for a "Casbah project".

The 2012 plan was adopted with a budget of 170 million euros (now $170 million).

The project aims to restore the Casbah's "authentic face", protect it in the long term and keep at least some of its residents in their homes.

The state-run project has already restored a number of prominent buildings, including part of the citadel, which includes the Dey's palace, mosque and ammunition store, partially open to visitors since November 2020.

The mosque has been decorated with earthenware, marble and Arabic screen printing.

A cluster of four houses that once served as a refuge for key independence war figures, including militant Djamila Bouhired, a heroine of the Battle of Algiers, has been renovated.

The Ketchaoua mosque, closed since 2008 after being seriously damaged by a powerful earthquake five years earlier, has also been restored.

The Ottoman-era mosque was reopened in April 2018 after 37 months of works, funded entirely by the Turkish government.

Before the start of the restoration plan, Algerian authorities had launched emergency work to "consolidate buildings that were in danger of collapsing", said Mehdi Ali Pacha, head of an architectural firm specializing in heritage work.

"The shoring up of more than 300 buildings was carried out in 2008 and 2013," added the architect, whose agency has conducted studies on the restoration.

Restoration work on the many small traditional houses in the Casbah is sometimes hindered by residents who refuse to grant access to architects or work crews.

"The residents remain a problem. There are some small old houses that have been emptied and walled up by the town hall.

"There, there is no problem, we can work.

"When the houses are inhabited, the study is done as best as possible with difficulties of access," bemoaned Ali Pacha.

In late 2018, the rehabilitation of the Casbah was at the heart of a controversy, both in France and Algeria, after Algerian authorities decided to entrust a development plan to French architect Jean Nouvel.

Some 400 people, mainly architects, planners and academics, asked Nouvel to withdraw from the project.

The petitioners were concerned that a French architect could propose transformations of a major site of the Battle of Algiers.

The venture was eventually abandoned.

Currently, seven restoration projects of historical buildings are underway, according to Fatima Larbi, architect at the Algiers public works department, quoted by the official news agency APS.

"The aim is to revive the Casbah and enhance it," said Ali Pacha.



Biggest Piece of Mars on Earth is Going Up for Auction in New York

A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Biggest Piece of Mars on Earth is Going Up for Auction in New York

A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

For sale: A 54-pound (25-kilogram) rock. Estimated auction price: $2 million to $4 million. Why so expensive? It's the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth.

Sotheby's in New York will be auctioning what's known as NWA 16788 on Wednesday as part of a natural history-themed sale that also includes a juvenile Ceratosaurus dinosaur skeleton that's more than 6 feet (2 meters) tall and nearly 11 feet (3 meters) long, The Associated Press reported.

According to the auction house, the meteorite is believed to have been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike before traveling 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) to Earth, where it crashed into the Sahara. A meteorite hunter found it in Niger in November 2023, Sotheby's says.

The red, brown and gray hunk is about 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents nearly 7% of all the Martian material currently on this planet, Sotheby's says. It measures nearly 15 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches (375 millimeters by 279 millimeters by 152 millimeters).

"This Martian meteorite is the largest piece of Mars we have ever found by a long shot," Cassandra Hatton, vice chairman for science and natural history at Sotheby's, said in an interview. "So it´s more than double the size of what we previously thought was the largest piece of Mars."

It is also a rare find. There are only 400 Martian meteorites out of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites found on Earth, Sotheby's says.

Hatton said a small piece of the red planet remnant was removed and sent to a specialized lab that confirmed it is from Mars. It was compared with the distinct chemical composition of Martian meteorites discovered during the Viking space probe that landed on Mars in 1976, she said.

The examination found that it is an "olivine-microgabbroic shergottite," a type of Martian rock formed from the slow cooling of Martian magma. It has a course-grained texture and contains the minerals pyroxene and olivine, Sotheby's says.

It also has a glassy surface, likely due to the high heat that burned it when it fell through Earth's atmosphere, Hatton said. "So that was their first clue that this wasn't just some big rock on the ground," she said.

The meteorite previously was on exhibit at the Italian Space Agency in Rome. Sotheby's did not disclose the owner.

It's not clear exactly when the meteorite hit Earth, but testing shows it probably happened in recent years, Sotheby's said.

The juvenile Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeleton was found in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, at Bone Cabin Quarry, a gold mine for dinosaur bones. Specialists assembled nearly 140 fossil bones with some sculpted materials to recreate the skeleton and mounted it so it's ready to exhibit, Sotheby's says.

The skeleton is believed to be from the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago, Sotheby's says. It's auction estimate is $4 million to $6 million.

Ceratosaurus dinosaurs were bipeds with short arms that appear similar to the Tyrannosaurus rex, but smaller. Ceratosaurus dinosaurs could grow up to 25 feet (7.6 meters) long, while the Tyrannosaurs rex could be 40 feet (12 meters) long.

The skeleton was acquired last year by Fossilogic, a Utah-based fossil preparation and mounting company.

Wednesday's auction is part of Sotheby's Geek Week 2025 and features 122 items, including other meteorites, fossils and gem-quality minerals.