Notre Dame d'Afrique
Notre Dame d'Afrique (Our Lady of Africa) is a Catholic basilica in Algiers, Algeria.
History
"...a pilgrimage-church for sick persons and mariners, founded by Card. Lavigerie in 1872, [which] rises conspicuously on a spur of the N.E. slope of Mont Bouzaréah, above the Christian and the Jewish burial-grounds."[1]
The basilica was inaugurated in 1872, after fourteen years of construction. It was founded by Charles Lavigerie.[1] Its architect, Jean Eugène Fromageau, who had been appointed the chief architect for ecclesiastical buildings in French Algeria in 1859, employed a Neo-Byzantine style.[2] Its floor plan is unusual as the choir is situated on the southeast instead of the usual east side of the building.
Location
Notre Dame d'Afrique is located on the north side of Algiers, on a 124 m (407 ft) cliff overlooking the Bay of Algiers. It formerly could be reached from the city centre by a cable car. The basilica can be considered to be the counter-piece to the church of Notre-Dame de la Garde on the other side of the Mediterranean, in Marseille.
Importance
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").[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Notre Dame d’Afrique and Carmelite Convent, Algiers, Algeria". World Digital Library. 1899. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
- ↑ "Algiers Viewed from Outside Notre Dame d’Afrique". World Digital Library. 1899. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
External links
Media related to Notre Dame d'Afrique at Wikimedia Commons