The Government Palace (, ), known before 1962 as ''Gouvernement général'', is the office of the

Prime Minister of Algeria The First minister of Algeria is the head of government of Algeria. Nadir Larbaoui has been the prime minister since 11 November 2023. The prime minister is appointed by the president of Algeria, along with other ministers and members of the ...

and a major public building in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. At the time of its inauguration in 1933, with a surface of 33,000 m², it was the largest administrative building of the entire French state.

History

The project to build a new seat for the government of

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

was formulated in the context of the 100th anniversary of the

Invasion of Algiers in 1830 The invasion of Algiers in 1830 was a large-scale military operation by which the Kingdom of France, ruled by Charles X, invaded and conquered the Deylik of Algiers. Algiers was annexed by the Ottoman Empire in 1529 after the capture of Algi ...

. The complex was built between 1929 and 1934 on a design by architect Jacques Guiauchain, the grandson of one of French Algeria's first colonial architects, , and eventually inaugurated in 1933. It encloses an entertainment and cinema venue, the , which was built in 1929 and is now named after

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and cons ...

. The building was ransacked by a mob on , during the

May 1958 crisis The May 1958 crisis (), also known as the Algiers putsch or the coup of 13 May, was a political crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) which led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic and its repla ...

. On , newly arrived

Prime Minister of France The prime minister of France (), officially the prime minister of the French Republic (''Premier ministre de la République française''), is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of its Council of Ministers. The prime ...

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

gave a major speech from the Government Palace's balcony, where he uttered the ambiguous sentence that immediately became iconic, ("I have understood you"). After the country's independence in 1962 following the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

, the building became the office and residence of the

. It is also the home of the . Alger-Gouvernement-General

Urban setting

The Government Palace crowns the

Boulevard Mohamed-Khemisti The Boulevard Mohamed-Khemisti, named after former foreign minister Mohamed Khemisti, is a major artery and public space in Algiers. Geography The boulevard runs upwards from east to west, starting near the seashore and ending at the esplanade i ...

, a monumental perspective created in the early 20th century on former military grounds, which also includes the Grande Poste d'Alger. The plaza or Forum in front of the Government Palace, formerly an open space but now closed to the public, overlooks Algiers with a broad view towards the sea. Bordering that forum is also the Central Library Arts And Culture, a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

. Just below it, in a public garden, stands the Memorial to the Liberation of Algeria.

Notes

{{coord, 36.7746, 3.0566, type:landmark_region:DZ, display=title Government buildings in Algeria Buildings and structures in Algiers

History

Urban setting

See also

Notes