Architecture that feels familiar
How wonderful it is to visit a place that forces you to imagine! Today, Oran is in many ways a decadent city, the heir to a Spanish and French past that rewarded it with buildings of very beautiful architecture which stand today simply because they were well built.
But that is where the magic begins. That is where you imagine what Oran was and what it wanted to be, a city that today is bustling and seems disconnected from the rest of Algeria.
What should I keep?
Buildings from different eras compete for our attention. Mine in particular fell in love with some places worth visiting: the train station designed by Albert Bellu in the Neo-Moorish style, the bullring (a bullring in Algeria!), and the birthplace of Yves Saint Laurent.
The Oran Regional Theater, in colonial baroque style, also catches the eye, along with the synagogue, and the Church of the Sacred Heart—now converted into a library—which forms part of that catalogue of Arab, Ottoman, Spanish, and French historical influences visible in the city’s buildings.
To be decorous…
When you go with an open mind and uninhibited, wonderful things happen. In Oran, of course, they do too. The synagogue, which I mentioned earlier, is going to be converted into a mosque. Today it is closed to tourists; however, a friendly Algerian citizen who was there allowed me to enter. The key to gaining access was telling him that Islam was in my heart and that it might be my only chance to visit that place.
The man, moved by my argument, told me that since I had a decorous attitude he would allow me in. And I went in.
Not everything is architecture
People’s lives, the cafés, the children, the markets… On trips, my gaze tends to go more in that direction than towards buildings. And in Oran, you wish you wouldn’t close your eyes so you can take in the entire mosaic before us.
And between the buildings and daily life, there is still one very, very important thing left: you cannot leave Oran without trying karantina, a kind of dough made with chickpea flour, eggs, water, oil, and salt. If you have tried this delicacy, the only thing left for you to do is go up to Santa Cruz to get the best panoramic view of a city that managed to surprise me
Roser Lloveras
