OUR LADY OF AFRICA

Built in 1872 on a promontory 124 meters above sea level, the Basilica of Notre-Dame d'Afrique is considered the counterpart of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde in Marseille. The basilica is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Its construction is the culmination of a pilgrimage that began in 1846 on the initiative of two Lyonnais women, Marguerite Berger and Anna Cinquin, who placed a statuette of the Virgin in the trunk of an olive tree in a nearby ravine as a tribute to the shrine of their hometown. St. Joseph's chapel, erected in 1856, followed this first shrine, before being supplanted by the basilica, on which work began in 1858. Capped by a dome adorned with a cross and flanked by a minaret-shaped campanile housing eleven bells, the basilica is built in neo-Byzantine style. Its façade is crowned by a blue-and-white ceramic frieze.

Inside, in Hispano-Moorish style, the walls are covered withex-votos offered by believers of all faiths from Algeria, Africa and elsewhere, in gratitude to the Virgin Mary. Written in French, Latin, Arabic, Tifinagh, Italian, Spanish, English and Russian, some date back to the origins of the basilica, while others are more recent. Among them, you'll notice one by Father Charles de Foucauld, one by astronaut Frank Borman, who visited the shrine in 1970 and on which is inscribed a word from Genesis spoken in space in 1968, and those by sailors thanking the Virgin for not abandoning them during storms.

In the apse, with its frescoed walls depicting the lives of Saint Augustine and his mother, Saint Monica, stands the statue of Notre-Dame d'Afrique, presented to Mgr Dupuch in 1838 by the girls of the Sacré-Coeur boarding school in Lyon. The color of its bronze has faded over time, earning the statue the name Vierge Noire (Black Virgin). The pedestal, adorned with blue ceramics, was restored by master craftsman Mohamed Boumehdi, who also created the ceramics to the right of the heart in homage to the White Fathers of Tizi Ouzou, murdered in 1994. Nearby, the names of the Tibhirine monks murdered in 1996 are also inscribed.

The astonishing inscriptions in French, Arabic and Kabyle and the prayer "Notre-Dame d'Afrique, priez pour nous et pour les musulmans" (Our Lady of Africa, pray for us and for Muslims) reveal the fraternal and intercultural dimension of the site. Model ships hang in tribute to sailors who sank at sea. The beautifully decorated organ is said to have been chosen by Camille Saint-Saëns. Damaged by sea winds and earthquakes, the basilica underwent major restoration work under the direction of architect Xavier David, who was responsible for the renovation of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde in Marseille. Organ concerts and other cultural events are held here. On the esplanade, the statue of Cardinal Lavigerie, by J. Vezien, was erected in 1925 and restored in 2019. The ceramics placed to the right of the choir in tribute to the nineteen Catholic monks murdered in the 1990s (including the four White Fathers of Tizi Ouzou in 1994, Pierre Claverie, bishop of Oran, and the monks of Tibhirine in 1996) were placed there following their beatification in December 2018.

A superb view of the city's northern districts, the Christian and Jewish cemeteries (where Roger Hanin has been buried since 2015), the Omar Hamadi stadium and the sea from the basilica's forecourt.