PLACE DU 1ER-NOVEMBER - TOWN HALL AND THEATRE

A replica of the Place du Théâtre National in Algiers, it was originally intended for military demonstrations outside the old city walls. In the 1860s, everything was on sale here. In the center of the ficus- and palm-lined square, a stele bearing the effigy of Emir Abdelkader is topped by a winged Victory sculpted by Aimé-Jules Dalou. Originally, this monument commemorated the "braves" who fell in the battle of Sidi-Brahim (1845) against the troops of Emir Abdelkader. It was only after independence that the bas-relief of Emir Abdelkader, who won the battle, was added.

On the south side, the town hall, now the headquarters of the APC, equivalent to the municipality, was built between 1882 and 1886. Its main façade is marked by a monumental staircase guarded by two bronze lions, the work of a pupil of Rodin, a certain Auguste Cain, whose name and sculpted lions inspired a text by Albert Camus in Le Minotaure ou la halte d'Oran. Inside, a magnificent marble and red onyx staircase leads to the second floor, and a beautiful glass roof has been restored.

On the west side of the square, the Italian-styleThéâtre d'Oran was built in 1907. The theater now bears the name of Abdelkader Alloula, the first Algerian playwright to write in dialectal Arabic at a time when the authorities swore by classical Arabic. Sadly, he was assassinated during the black decade on March 10, 1994.