Travel Algeria: the houses of the Casbah open to tourists
If the capital Algiers arouses the curiosity of several foreign tourists visiting Algeria, it is largely thanks to the Casbah
An alley at the Casbah of Algiers / By mehdi33300 / AdobeStock
If the capital Algiers arouses the curiosity of several foreign tourists visiting Algeria, it is largely thanks to the Casbah and all the mystical, cultural and architectural aura that surrounds it.
Listed since 1992 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Kasbah of Algiers forms a block that extends historically from the Zirid era to the present day. With its winding streets and ancestral houses, the stories that its cobblestones tell and the breathtaking view that its ramparts offer over the bay of Algiers, the Casbah is an essential stopover for foreign tourists.
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Residents of the Casbah of Algiers welcome foreign tourists
Faced with this growing influx of tourists, families living in this historic district of the capital are beginning to open the doors of their traditional houses to foreign visitors. This is reported in an article in the Arabic-language newspaper Al Khabar , which states that these families communicate with tourist guides, also natives of the Kasbah, before welcoming tourists.
This trend, which accompanies the tourism boom experienced by the Casbah in recent years, primarily concerns its buildings, called "douirates", which still retain their original stamp and offer visitors an authenticity that they will not find anywhere else.
A pioneer in this field, the house of Khalti Bahdja quickly became an essential place visited by tourists "of all nationalities" who are in search of originality. Although the owner, Khalti Bahdja, passed away, her daughters were able to take up the torch after her.
The interior of one of the houses in the Casbah of Algiers / By mehdi33300 / AdobeStock
In this house, located in the heart of the Casbah, tourists come especially to enjoy an evening on the terrace, facing the bay of Algiers, around a mint tea accompanied by traditional cakes , all served on age-old silver platters. At the same time, visitors discover the architectural beauty of the house and the culinary richness of the capital Algiers.
“The story began about two years ago… when we received American tourists ,” explains Khalti Khedidja, Khalti Bahdja's daughter. She confides that the duration of the visit of the first tourists should not exceed an hour, but that the visitors, after three hours, still did not want to leave, when it was already past 8 p.m.
“Since that day, our house has become a destination of choice for tourists. They just have to send us the date of their arrival two days in advance and also the menu they want us to prepare for them, we'll take care of the rest", explains Khalti Khedidja, who does not miss not to underline that the house knew how to keep its ancestral aspect and that the age of certain utensils, in particular those in silver, exceeds half a century.
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