A history of the wilaya of Algiers: the hills and the plain

Prehistory

Prehistoric dolmens, tombs built of large stones, form a necropolis, or burial ground, at Beni Messous. The site is described as one of the most important dolmen sites on the Algerian coast. North African dolmens of this type date from the second half of the second millennium BC.

Douera and its villages

From 1830 Douera was a military camp and hospital, built in place of a Turkish watch post. An order of 23 May 1835 fixed the limits of the future commune, which included Saint-Ferdinand, Mahelma, Sainte-Amélie, Baba Hassen and Crescia. Colonial Douera had a church, a hospital and hospice, a public garden and schools.

Saint-Ferdinand, today Souidania, depended on Douera until 1894. It then became a full commune and took a third of Douera's territory.

Saint-Ferdinand was created in 1844 on the site of Haouch Boukandoura. The land had belonged to the Ben Khelil outan, a district of the Regency period.

Crescia, today Khraicia, lay within the limits set for the future commune of Douera by an order of 23 May 1835. The village was created as an annex of Douera, about 4 km away.

Founded in May 1843 inside the commune of Douera, the village of Baba Hassen became a separate full commune in 1875. Like other settlements of the 1840s, the village formed a square, with a watch tower at each corner. By 1885 wine was its main produce, and the vine remained the leading crop until 1962.

The villages of the western heights

One of the first French settlements around Algiers, Draria was founded in 1842 as a wine growing village, then called Kaddous. Its church was inaugurated on 3 November 1842. After a period as part of the commune of Dely Ibrahim, it became a full commune on 8 December 1870.

Between 1882 and 1884 a large house, the Château Béraud, was built in Draria. In 1951 it became a preventorium, a health home for the prevention of tuberculosis.

Founded in 1842 as a colonial farming village, El Achour became a full commune in 1876. Its vineyards lined the road to Draria.

In the French period Ouled Fayet was a village attached to the commune of Dely Ibrahim. It became a commune in its own right in 1888.

A Serbian military cemetery in Dely Ibrahim holds soldiers of the Serbian army who died between 1916 and 1919 in Allied hospitals in North Africa. The Government of Serbia counts it among the significant places of remembrance of the Serbian army. In November 2015 the National Assembly of Serbia showed photographs of the cemetery by Stevan Labudovic.

Birkhadem and Saoula

The first stone of the church of Birkhadem was laid on 26 December 1842, and the church was completed in 1843. An imperial decree of 31 December 1856 made Birkhadem a full commune.

Founded in 1843 as a small European farming village, Saoula was first attached to Birkhadem. It became a full commune in 1884, when it was separated from Birkhadem.

The Mitidja plain

In the early 1850s, Birtouta was founded as a colonial settlement, 23 km from Algiers. The Pasteur Institute of Algiers ran an experimental station against malaria on the former marshland. About 58,000 trees were planted and 42 km of drains were dug to remove standing water.

Rouïba was created as a colonial settlement in 1853 and became a full commune on 22 August 1861.