The port of Algiers, a territory of anchorage, exchange, and defense: Reconstruction of the process of its consolidation until 1830

The port of Algiers is one of the natural ports that have hosted port towns throughout all times and worldwide. It was at the origin of the birth of today’s city: Algiers, the capital of Algeria. Its consolidation, throughout history, has made the port of Algiers an area of relevance necessary for its development, from the first act of its anthropization by constructing the Penon of Algiers to its consolidation in the 16th century into an urban entity. Thus, it was equipped with its fortification system to ensure the protection and defense of the city against European attacks coming from the Mediterranean Sea. Today, it forms a detached part of the urban dynamics of the city. The old Turkish port (the admiralty: the arsenal, the admirals’ house, the stores, etc.) is occupied by the military, and the quays (built during the ports’ extension from 1830) are used for port traffic. This paper presents historical research that allows us to recognize the mode of the formation and the consolidation of the port of Algiers and to understand its urban structure: the port buildings that compose it and their interrelations. Thus, it allows us to answer the question: how can the port of Algiers provide capital gain to the development of the thousand-year-old city whose historic district “the Casbah” has been classified as a world heritage site since 1992? Methodologically, the research is based on an exploratory approach through the return to historical literature and cartography provided by archival services, notably the Simoncas archives in Spain and the French military engineering fund in Vincennes.