Cathedral of the Sacred Heart
The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (also Sacré Cœur Cathedral , Arabic كاتدرائية وهران 'Cathedral of Oran') is a former cathedral church built by the Catholics in the northern Algerian city of Oran from 1903 ; it is now used as a library. The building erected in what was then French North Africa is the first reinforced concrete church on French territory.
Construction work on the church began on April 20, 1903, and the crypt was inaugurated on November 11, 1906. At that time, Christians and Jews made up the majority of the city's population. The church architect was Albert Ballu, the lead construction company belonged to the brothers Auguste and Gustave Perret. The sacred building, built in Romano-Byzantine or Neo-Byzantine style, could be used from February 9, 1913. The Cavaillé-Coll - Mutin organ was inaugurated on February 3, 1918 . After the construction was completed, the entire church was consecrated on April 30, 1930.
After the Algerian War , the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart was converted into a regional library in 1984 (the Muslim population rose from 44% to 98% today), and in 1996 it was downgraded to a municipal library.
The building has a large dome and an elaborately decorated entrance area flanked by two church towers. The former chancel and the choir stalls are covered with cardboard lids and centimeters high with pigeon droppings.
Web links and sources
- Algeria travelogue on around-the-world
- Nabila Oulebsir: Les usages du patrimoine: Monuments, musées et politique coloniale en Algérie, 1830–1930 . Editions MSH, 2014, ISBN 978-2-7351-1006-3 , pp. 269 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
Coordinates: 35 ° 42 ′ 1 ″ N , 0 ° 38 ′ 47 ″ E