Origins The Casbah (fortress), constructed next to the
Mediterranean Sea shore, is a unique kind of
medina, or Islamic city, which predates construction of the Ketchaoua Mosque at its centre. It overlooks the islands where a
Carthaginian trading-post was established in the 6th century
BCE, but the city of Algiers was founded in the 10th century CE by the
Zirids. Over the next several centuries the
Berbers,
Romans,
Byzantines,
Arabs and
Spaniards all made an impact. The history of the Ketchaoua Mosque is integral to the ancient history of the Casbah, recognized on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Its exact location was at the centre of the city at the intersection of the roads from the lower Casbah leading to the five gates of the Algiers city. An unconfirmed mention is made of the mosque in the 14th century, but the confirmed "notarial document" dates it from . It was rebuilt, according to a commemorative inscription in , when it was glorified as a structure of "unparalleled beauty.”
Modern period At the orders of
General Savary several hundred Algerians protesting this violation of grantee's given by a previous French military commander
General Bourmont were evicted at bayonet-point from the mosque in December 1831 before it was consecrated as the cathedral of Saint Philippe on Christmas Day, 1832. Between 1845 and 1860 the old mosque was demolished and a new church was built. After the liberation of Algeria from French rule, the cathedral's restoration as the Ketchaoua Mosque in 1962 is considered as "having significant religious and cultural importance," and it richly testifies to the history of "this mosque-turned-cathedral-turned-mosque". Apart from the Ketchaoua Mosque, there are remains of the citadel, other old mosques and Ottoman-style palaces, as well as the remains of a traditional urban structure. ==Architecture==