Notre Dame d'Afrique

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The Notre Dame d'Afrique (Our Lady of Africa) is the basilica of Algiers, Algeria.

It was inaugurated in 1872, after fourteen years of construction. The architect, Fromageau, was named in 1859 as chief architect for ecclesiastical buildings in French Algeria by the minister of Colonies, and he used the byzantine style that was very much in vogue for church buildings in France at that time. Its floorplan is particular in that sense that the choir is situated on the southeast in stead of the usual east side of the building. The basilica is located on the North side of Algiers, on a 124m cliff overseeing the Bay of Algiers. It could be reached by a cable car that as of 2007 seems to be broken. It is considered as a counterpiece to the Notre-Dame de la Garde on the other side of the Mediterranean in Marseille.

Its symbolic and religious importance can be summed up by the inscription on the apse:

Notre Dame d'Afrique priez pour nous et pour les Musulmans.

("Our lady of Africa, pray for us and for the Muslims")