Photos of Algiers

Hi, these are a set of shots I took while visiting Algiers several days ago. Algiers is a city that, due to its turbulent recent history and the ongoing terrorist problem, is rarely visited by Westerners except in the oil and gas industries. I had the privilege of visiting the city due to my job, and was able to take some photos of its unique African-French architecture.

Unfortunately, they were taken with a camera phone so are limited with respect to resolution, lens, colour etc. Also, my choice of host (Photobucket.com) has further cropped the resolution.

Please tell me what you think.

Very nice city scapes. I just love seeing scenes from all over the world!

Very interesting! What's with the oodles of satellite dishes on the building in the right in the last photo? Looks like an oldschool Citroen at the bottom of the first one... I like the fifth one with its overcrowded building look.

Cool shots. I agree with MDoc. You don't see these types of shots everyday.

Thanks! I'm glad you all like the images.

The architecture is very unique. Algiers is a coastal city built literally onto the mountainside, so you will see steep narrow streets winding upward past apartment blocks just about everywhere. Roads will pass over the roofs of apartment blocks sunk into valleys, or even be part of the roof! By the port, however you can see French influences such as tree-lined boulevards etc.

The apartment blocks themselves are a sea of colours depending on the washing being held out to dry and the curtains. Every flat has a satellite dish sticking out of it (basically to watch European soccer from what I understand!).

The mosque you saw is actually a converted Catholic church, which was made so after the Algerian revolution and the departure of the French croyants. That is what makes its architecture interesting and different to other more generic mosques you see in Morocco etc.

Here are a couple of my favourites (Algiers in Early Morning Fog)

And another cluttered appartment blocks one..