The Ketchaoua Mosque ( ar, جامع كتشاوة, ''Djamaa Ketchaoua'') is a
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a Place of worship, place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers (sujud) ...
in the city of
Algiers, the capital of
Algeria
)
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, religi ...
. It was built during the
Ottoman rule in the 17th century and is located at the foot of the
Casbah of Algiers
The Casbah ( ar, قصبة, ''qaṣba'', meaning citadel) is the citadel of Algiers in Algeria and the traditional quarter clustered around it. In 1992, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed ...
, which is a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
. The mosque stands on the first of the Casbah's many steep stairways and was logistically and symbolically the cynosure of the pre-colonial city of Algiers.
The mosque is noted for its unique fusion of
Moorish
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
and
Byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire.
The Byzantine era is usually dated from 330 AD, when Constantine the Great moved the Roman capital to Byzantium, which became Constantinople, until the ...
.
The mosque was originally built in 1612. Later, in 1845, it was converted during
French rule, to the Cathedral of St Philippe, which remained so until 1962. The old mosque was demolished between 1845 and 1860 and a new church was built. It was converted into a mosque in 1962. In spite of these transitions over two different religious faiths in roughly the last four centuries, the mosque has retained its original grandeur and is one of the major attractions of Al