Room I. In the central cases are prehistoric finds from the Tell Atlas and the Oued Rhir (p. [285]); Byzantine and early-Moorish antiquities from Morsott (p. [314]) and Kalâa des Beni-Hammad (p. [270]); natural history specimens (incl. vegetable fibres utilized industrially). The wall-presses contain fossils from the hill of Mansoura (p. [302]) and Jebel Sidi M’Cid; Phœnician and Roman antiquities from the necropolises of the Coudiat-Aty, of Collo, Bulla Regia, etc. (clay vases, fine Roman bronzes, a glass cinerary urn, trinkets, cut gems). By the wall of exit are Spanish-Moorish, Italian, and Kabylian ceramics, Moorish fayence from Tlemcen, Nabeul (p. [365]), etc.; a late-Moorish door; a Turkish executioner’s sword from Khenchela. Here too are a map of the artesian wells in the province of Constantine and a model of a boring apparatus.
Room II. The show-cases contain coins and medals. In the wall-presses, natural history specimens; marble and onyx from Aïn-Smara. On the walls, a small collection of pictures.
Gallery (on the left of R. I). Large Roman clay vessels, neo-Punic and Roman stelæ, Roman sculptures, Moorish fragments, casts.
From the Boul. de l’Ouest the Boul. du Nord (Pl. A, B, 4, 3; fine views) and (to the right) the Rue du Rocher lead to the Kasba (p. [300]).
The busiest streets of the European quarter, where many of the inhabitants are Italians and Maltese, are the Rue Caraman (Pl. B, 4) with the Rue Chevalier, the Rue d’Aumale, and the Rue Damrémont (Pl. B, 4, 3), all to the N. of the Place de Nemours. Between these lines of streets lies the spacious Place du Palais (Pl. B, 4).
The Palais de Hadj Ahmed (Pl. B, 4; now military headquarters), on the N.E. side of the square, built by Ahmed Bey in 1828–35, contains four picturesque courts, adorned with tiles. The front court is decorated with clumsy frescoes depicting chief towns of the Orient. The interior is not shown. Concierge ½ fr.
The Cathedral (Pl. 2, B 4; Notre-Dame des Sept-Douleurs), on the E. side of the Place du Palais, was once the Market Mosque (Jâma Sûk er-Rezel), with its nave and double aisles, built in 1707. The women’s galleries next the entrance-wall now contain the organ. The choir is a modern addition. In the outer right aisle, in the middle of the E. wall, with its well-preserved tile and stucco decoration, is the old mihrâb (p. [180]), now a chapel. The mimbar in the inner left aisle is now the pulpit; behind it is a copy of the inscription on the Rocher des Martyrs (p. [301]).
The Rue Caraman, continued by the Rue Chevalier, and the Rue de France (Pl. B, C, 4, 3) both lead to the N.E. to the Place Négrier (Pl. C, 3), in which rises the Mosque of Sidi el-Kettani (Pl. 8; B, C, 3), built by Sala-Bey. The first floor of the building contains a marble mimbar executed by Italian sculptors. On the N. side of the square is a new Synagogue (Pl. 11; C, 3).
At the N. end of the town, partly on the site of the Roman capitol, is the old Kasba (Pl. B, 3; 2116 ft.; 666 ft. above the Rhumel), now a group of new buildings, including barracks and the military hospital. Of the Roman Cisterns, originally a quadrangle of 164 by 39 yds., about one-third has been preserved and is now again in use. The view from the garden of the Artillery Arsenal (Pl. B, C, 2, 3), at the N. end of the Kasba, immediately above the ravine of the Rhumel, is justly extolled. Adm. by leave of the military authorities (Palais de Hadj Ahmed; see above). Entrance in the Rue Damrémont (p. [299]). From the Kasba the new Suspension Bridge (‘Pont Suspendu’; Pl. C, D, 2, 3) crosses the Rhumel at a height of 590 ft. to the Hôpital Civil (Pl. D, 2).
The *Native Quarters, intersected by the upper Rue Nationale, with their lively, picturesque, crooked streets, lie in the lower part of the town, between the Place de Nemours, Rue Caraman, Rue de France, and the Rhumel ravine (p. [301]). The most interesting streets are those inhabited by Mohammedan artisans, largely Mozabites (p. [216]), between the Rue Combes (Pl. B, 4) and the Rue Vieux (Pl. B, C, 4, 3), both of which lead to the N.E. to the Place Rahbet es Souf (‘wool-market’) or Place des Galettes (Pl. C, 4), with its Market Hall. Between this square and the Boul. de l’Est (Pl. C, 3), a fine point of view, lies the Jewish Quarter, which is worth seeing, especially on Saturdays.