North of Upper Town
Open: 11am- 12:30pm and 3- 5:30pm
Basilique Notre Dame d'Afrique or Our Lady of Africa is a Roman Catholic Church that was constructed in Algiers overlooking city below. Basilique Notre Dame d'Afrique was built between 1858 and 1872 under supervision of a French architect Jean Eugene Fromageau. He designed his magnificent cathedral in a Roman and neo- Byzantine architectural style. The site of Basilique Notre Dame d'Afrique is chosen effectively. It stands on a 124 m (407 feet) high cliff overlooking the Bay of Algiers. It was constructed from sandstone, decorated with blue and white mosaics and topped by a large dome with a silver cross. The interior of Basilique Notre Dame d'Afrique is richly decorated with religious paintings, mosaics, stained glass, columns and arches. The apse of the altar is decorated with an inscriptions dedicated to Holy Virgin asking for her prayers for Catholics and Muslims alike. The courtyard of Basilique Notre Dame d'Afrique has a statue of an "African Queen", a monument to the Catholic missionaries who came to Algiers to spread Christianity. You can reach the church by a funicular from the bottom of the hill.
The chapel and the pilgrimage
A bronze
statuette of the Virgin Mary, a copy of an original work created by
Bouchardon in 1750, was offered in May 1840 to Mgr Dupuch, first
bishop of Algiers. It was placed in the monastery of La Trappe de
Staouëli in Bouchaoui.
Following the definition of the dogma
of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854,
his successor, Bishop Pavy, decided to build a large pilgrimage
church at Notre-Dame. He moved the statue to a chapel, inaugurated
on September 20, 1857. The feast of Our Lady of Africa was held on
April 30.
Bishop Pavy, of Lyon origin,
intended to build "another Fourvière, near Algiers!" On February 20,
1858, he began building the church. It was entrusted to Jean-Eugène
Fromageau, chief architect of the diocesan buildings of Algeria. It
was completed in 1872. Bishop Pavy, who died in 1866, is buried in
the choir.
The building was consecrated on July 2, 1872, by
Monsignor Lavigerie, Archbishop of Algiers. He transferred the
statue of Mary there on May 2, 1873. On May 4, 1873, the church
hosted a "provincial council of Africa", bringing together the
bishops and abbots of Algeria, the first meeting of this type in
modern times.
Both buildings were founded on the initiative
of Cardinal Lavigerie, the Society of Missionaries of Africa (White
Fathers) (1868) and the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa or
White Sisters (1869) were entrusted with the custody of the
sanctuary.
Pope Pius IX grants Basilique Notre Dame d'Afrique
the title of basilica; it was consecrated on April 30, 1876.
Basilique Notre Dame d'Afrique was severely affected by the earthquakes of May 2003, which also left 3,000 dead, especially in the town of Boumerdès. Restoration work began in 2007 under the leadership of Bernard Lefebvre, rector of the basilica. The inauguration took place on December 13, 2010. The work was the subject of funding shared between the European Union and the French State to the tune of 1 million euros, from French local authorities (the Provence region). Alpes-Côte d'Azur, the Bouches-du-Rhône department and the city of Marseille) up to 440,000 euros each and the wilaya of Algiers up to 600,000 euros.