Ghardaia Things to Do

In Beni Isguen the strange fortifications isolating the city from the desert do not look as a real military construction. Only near the main city doors do the wall look like real walls. In beniIsguen the foreigner are not allowed to stay during the night, except they have guests.

The Wilaya (the residence of the wali), the prefecture; this is the main administrative building in Ghardaia; it is on the squared market place; on this place, the movie maker M. Lakhdar Amina directed a scene of massacre of Algerian by French troops for his movie “Chronique des annees de braise” , Palme d’or in Cannes , 1975.
It is now again a quiet market place and. . . Oh, a women there, at right, under the umbrella.

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Again this mosquee, with the inclined pillars, the windows, the ceilings made of palm tree trunks. You could stay there for hours, specially when it is so hot outside; may be the architect wanted people to stay inside as much as possible.

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It is not an effect of alcohol on the photographer, the pilars are inclined, as the whole building seems, if you look at small parts one after the other; but as a whole, the Sidi Brahim mosquee is a solid building. And inside, it is cool enough to concentrate on prayer rather than being disturbed by heat and sweat. Of all the mosquees I visited in Africa or Asia, it is one of my favorites; I do not pray, but places like this one are really inspiring, lead to meditation.

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It is sais this tiny old mosquee inspired Le Corbusier (French Architect) for building a well known modern church in France (Ronchamp) . Indeed, the shape, the rigorous style, the beautiful design , are stunning here in this environment.This mosquee has been build in the 11th century, and it contains relmains of Sidi brahim, a muslimscholar of El Ateuf. To me this construction integrates perfectly in the desert environment, and looking at it for some time in the late afternoon just fills your heart with peace.

In the Mzab, the cemeteries are ouside the cities. The old cemeteries are not maintained and only grave plates and some pottery remain ; the cemetery looks like a field where the rocks grow in anarchic pattern. The place is very hot and there are no flowers on the graves (water is too precious) ; muslim usually decorate parcimoniously their cemeteries, but here, austerity is at its maximum.

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The streets here, like in Ghardaia are narrow, but more steep. Children play in the streets and the colors are always so pastel.It looks, like in many North African cities that electricity and telephone were installed without clear plan, but, at least it seems to work and does not bother the children who play.

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The Mosquee of Ghardaia is surrounded by a corridor of arches; this is a typical Mozabite architectural element; nowadays, people still go for praying in the mosquee which has been renovated several times since its construction, but always keping the original style (if not the material, some concrete bricks are used now).