Historical Tourism in Oran: Memoryscapes, Historical Narratives, and Identity Formation

The documentation and historiographical study of Algerian cities remains a nascent and underexplored domain with in academic research, marked by a noticeable lack of systematic inquiry and sustained scholarly engagement. Nonetheless, it represents a fertile ground for investigation, particularly for researchers dedicated to revisiting and reconstructing Algeria’s cultural history through its major urban centers—spaces that have borne witness to significant historical upheavals with enduring local and transnational implications.
In this regard, historical landmarks—be they religious, military, recreational, or artistic—constitute not merely architectural artifacts, but rather the material expressions of successive civilizational encounters and cultural stratifications. It is within this conceptual and methodological framework that the present study, entitled Historical Tourism in Oran: Spaces of Memory, History, and Identity, is situated. The research aligns with anthropological, archaeological, and architectural perspectives on tangible heritage and focuses specifically on the city of Oran, a pivotal node in Algeria’s historical and cultural geography. Located on the Mediterranean coast, Oran has long functioned as a prominent civilizational crossroads. Its architectural landscape, shaped by successive periods of transformation, reflects a rich palimpsest of stylistic and cultural layers, making it an ideal locus for investigating the interplay between heritage, identity, and collective memory.
Building on preliminary observations of Oran’s rich architectural heritage—conducted during a 2019 field survey by our research unit dedicated to the study of the city’s-built environment—this study emerged from a commitment to document and analyze Oran’s tangible cultural history through its architectural legacy. The selection of this focus was informed by the city’s exceptional historical and cultural density, which renders it an exemplary site for investigating the material expressions of its complex past.
Situated at a strategic intersection between the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean, Oran has long been a site of successive civilizational presences. Of particular interest to this study are the historical phases spanning the Spanish occupations (1509–1708 and 1732–1791), interspersed with Ottoman control (1708–1732 and 1792–1830), and culminating in French colonization beginning in 1830. These successive regimes not only left deep political and cultural imprints but also significantly shaped the city’s architectural fabric.
The period between 1700 and 1830 thus provides the primary temporal frame for this research. It was during this era that Oran witnessed substantial architectural transformation, resulting in a diverse and multilayered urban landscape. The surviving monuments from this period serve not merely as remnants of the past but as active carriers of collective memory—embodied reflections of the city's evolving identity and historical consciousness.
The historical significance of the city of Oran is indisputable. The urban landscape is replete with a diverse array of historical landmarks and archaeological structures that embody centuries of civilizational entanglement and contribute profoundly to the city’s cultural symbolism. Among the most transformative periods in this history is the colonial era, which played a foundational role in shaping the emergence of what contemporary scholarship identifies as historical tourism. This process entailed the construction of an architectural lexicon marked by a stratified heritage identity—one that draws upon multiple, and at times conflicting, cultural registers.
This layered identity materialized through a wide spectrum of built forms constructed during the colonial period, including monumental gates, fortresses, citadels, towers, and palaces. While some of these structures were clearly designed for strategic military purposes—facilitating colonial control and spatial domination—others were intended to serve religious or social functions, such as churches and elite residences. These architectural interventions, though often conceived within asymmetrical power relations, have since become integral to the city’s symbolic and historical topography.
As a result, Oran’s architectural identity emerges as a complex palimpsest in which Islamic, Ottoman, Spanish, and French stylistic elements are inscribed. These overlapping layers not only reveal the multiplicity of influences that shaped the built environment but also constitute a tangible archive of the city’s evolving historical consciousness. This makes Oran a compelling object of scholarly inquiry, particularly within fields concerned with cultural memory, postcolonial heritage, and urban semiotics.
It is from this standpoint that our research engages with the architectural heritage of Oran—a domain in which historical, religious, and archaeological dimensions are deeply entangled. This convergence raises a critical line of inquiry: To what extent are these historical landmarks embedded within the collective memory of the local population, and in what ways do they contribute to the articulation of cultural identity?
Situated within an anthropological and sociological framework, this investigation aligns with broader efforts to document and analyze tangible heritage. Such efforts are typically anchored in historically informed archaeological research, often adopting narrative methodologies that serve to reconstruct architectural and urban histories. However, this study aims to move beyond descriptive enumeration. Rather than offering a static inventory of monuments, it seeks to re-narrate Oran’s cultural history through a critical engagement with its material legacy—foregrounding how space, memory, and identity are co-produced through heritage practices.
In doing so, the research attempts to generate interpretive depth by exploring the interrelations between historical tourism, collective memory, and cultural identity. It also draws attention to gaps in current scholarship, such as the insufficient critical examination of the historical content conveyed through interpretive signage at heritage sites. Finally, the study advocates for the strategic mobilization of historical tourism as a mechanism not only for safeguarding endangered heritage but also for enhancing its socio-economic value. This is especially urgent in the context of accelerating urban and social transformations that threaten the integrity of Oran’s cultural landscape.
Oran has encountered significant challenges in preserving its heterogeneous heritage, shaped by intersecting and at times competing historical identities. This complex palimpsest renders the city a particularly rich case for the study of cultural hybridity, inter-civilizational interaction, and symbolic appropriation. Its architectural landmarks operate not merely as material residues of the past, but as anthropological signifiers embedded within culturally charged urban spaces—spaces that both reflect and produce narratives of memory, history, and identity through their entwinement with social practices and collective imaginaries.
Within this framework, the notion of cultural memory spaces—as articulated through historical tourism and the material heritage of Oran—demands analysis beyond the conventional reading of successive historical layers. Rather, these spaces invite hermeneutic engagement with the semiotics of built forms and their cultural inscriptions. They constitute a contested symbolic terrain wherein the Self (local identity, often expressed through Islamic and Ottoman architecture) and the Other (colonial legacies, particularly Spanish and French) converge in the dynamic construction of collective memory. Accordingly, Oran’s monuments function as lieux de mémoire—living sites of memory—whose meanings are continually re-negotiated across temporal, political, and socio-cultural contexts. They encapsulate the dialectic of remembrance and forgetting, and raise critical philosophical and anthropological questions regarding identity, alterity, and futurity.
In response to this complexity, the present research adopts an integrated methodological framework, combining historical inquiry, anthropological analysis, and critical theory. This approach is designed to revitalize scholarly engagement with Oran’s tangible heritage, particularly in light of the city’s ongoing urban and societal transformations. It calls for a rigorous, interdisciplinary, and connective research paradigm—one capable of anchoring cultural memory while also unpacking the symbolic structures that mediate the relationship between the past and the present.
The cultural heritage of the city of Oran has garnered considerable attention among specialists engaged in academic research. This interest is clearly reflected in a number of scholarly works that form the scientific foundation of the present study. Of particular significance are the writings of the scholar Sadek Ben Kada, a prominent researcher in the fields of political sociology and history, whose contributions have provided critical insights into the historical and socio-cultural dynamics of Oran.
ORAN 1732 1912ESSAI
D’ANALYSE DE LA TRANSITION HISTORIQUE D4UNE VILLE ALGERIENNE VERS LA MODERNITE HURBAINE
And ORAN: VILL ET ARCHITECTURE 1970 1960 Claudine Piaton, Juliette Hueber, Thierry Lochard, Alice Sidol
In addition to the aforementioned contributions, several academic studies have offered profound and rigorous readings of key themes related to the historical and cultural research on Oran. These works have significantly enriched the scientific foundations of this project. Among the most relevant references are the following:
• يحي بوعزيز. (2008). مدينة وهران عبر التاريخ. الجزائر: ط1، دار البصائر للنشر والتوزيع
• بن عودة مزاري. (1990). طلوع سعد السعود في أخبار وهران والجزائر واسبانيا وفرنسا إلى أواخر القرن التاسع عشر، تح: يحي بوعزيز، ج01. لبنان: ط01.دار الغرب الإسلامي للنشر..
• المهدي بن شهرة، تاريخ وهران بمن حل بمدينة وهران، دار الريحانة للكتاب 2007
• أحمد بن محمد بن علي بن سحنون الراشيدي، الثغر الجماني في ابنسام الثغر الوهران، تحقيق المهدي البوعبدلي البطيوي الوهراني، منشورات وزارة التعليم الأصلي والشؤون الدينية ، مطبعة البعث قسنطينة،1973
• الآغا بن عودة المزاري الوهراني ، طلوع سعد السعود في أخبار وهران ومخزنها الأسود، تحقيق: يحي بوعزيز
• أحمد توفيق المدني، حرب ثلاثمائة سنة بين الجزائر واسبانيا ، الشركة الوطنية للنشر والتوزيع، الجزائر،1965
• هواري شايلة، وهران تاريخ مدينة ،الطبعة الثانية، 2002.
• مجلة جعية الجغرافية والآثار لمدينة وهران
• Kouider métair oran mémoire en image en cédérom édition association bel horizon 2005