Notre-Dame d'Afrique
Jean-Eugène Fromageau · Algiers, Algeria · 1872
Notre-Dame d’Afrique occupies a dramatic hillside above the Bay of Algiers. Jean-Eugène Fromageau combined Byzantine and Romanesque references in a domed basilica whose pale masonry, arcades and richly ornamented interior distinguish it from the white urban fabric below. The church’s elevated terrace turns the approach and the Mediterranean view into part of the architectural experience. Completed in the nineteenth century, it is a major example of colonial-era ecclesiastical architecture in North Africa and a prominent landmark in Algiers’ coastal topography.