Basilica of Our Lady of Africa
“Brotherly love comes from God and is God” ( Augustine , African Church Father, De Trinitate VIII, 8).
The Notre Dame d'Afrique ( French Basilique de Notre-Dame d'Afrique ) is a Roman Catholic Mary - pilgrimage church and minor basilica in the Algerian capital Algiers .
history
The church stands on a section of cliff in the Bay of Algiers, 124 meters above sea level. Here, at the beginning of colonial rule in 1846 , the French created a grotto for a Black Madonna , which was given to the first Bishop of Algiers Antoine Dupuch by the Dames du Sacré-Coeur in Lyon . Soon votive tablets testified to the answers to prayer, and the number of pilgrims increased. A makeshift chapel was replaced in the 1860s by today's representative basilica based on plans by Jean Eugène Fromageau . The consecration in 1872 took Archbishop Charles Lavigerie . A few years earlier he had founded the Society of Missionaries of Africa and the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa here .
The basilica was lavishly painted and furnished in the following period. It suffered damage from the weather and earthquakes, most recently in 2003 . Since the Algerian War and the country's independence, the number of Catholics in Algiers has steadily decreased, but the number of pilgrims and tourists has increased. From 2007 to 2010 a three-year extensive renovation and renovation was carried out. The costs of five million euros were raised by the Algerian state, France, the European Union as well as private sponsors and donors.
architecture
The Marienbasilika in Algiers combines Byzantine , Arabic and Western-Romanesque style elements. It is a basilica with a short nave and a triangular choir . Above the crossing there is a large, cross-crowned dome on a round drum with windows . Two small decorative towers each flank the portal facade, crowned by a statue of the Virgin Mary, and the main apse ; in front of this stands the minaret-like bell tower in the middle of the longitudinal axis . Since the major restoration in 2010, the wall surfaces have appeared bright white again. A wide blue and white ornamental band runs under the eaves.
Furnishing
Decoration and pictures
The interior design also combines oriental and western elements. The rich, predominantly blue ornamentation is inspired by Ottoman mosques . The biblical and historical paintings show the taste of romantic historicism . The crowned Black Madonna, with outstretched arms, without the baby Jesus , wrapped in a chasuble-like , richly embroidered blue robe, stands in a blue and gold ciborium above the tabernacle .
organ
The organ with 26 registers on three manuals and pedal is the work of Charles Mutin . It was made in 1911 for the private villa of a wealthy Englishman in Algiers. After his death, his widow gave it to the basilica, where it was placed on a specially constructed gallery in 1930.
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- Coupling : II / I, III / I (also as sub-octave coupling), III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P
Web links
- Algiers: most important pilgrimage church in North Africa newly consecrated (kath.net, December 16, 2010)
- Algeria: Basilica reopened (radiovaticana.va, December 15, 2010)
- Alger: Notre Dame d'Afrique (mariedenazareth.com, French)
Individual evidence
- ↑ gcatholic.org
- ^ History, mechanics and disposition of the organ ( Memento from January 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (French)
Coordinates: 36 ° 48 ′ 3.4 " N , 3 ° 2 ′ 33" E