View of Algiers

Balcony view of the city

From the sea or from prominences this is a gleaming white city full of impressive buildings and this mix of bizarre shapes like the Monument of Heroes -- a giant stone cornstalk to honor the warriors of the independence movement, and minarets and iron filigrees on the roof tops.

Close up, when you are in the city, there are lovely TINY details like a flower stand downtown in which all the flowers are arrayed into a colorful pattern and delicate ironwork design lit with bulbs in the streets. But from a distance is when it really wows you.

Population 1.6 million in the city proper and 2.1 mission for the urban area.

The name comes from Al-jara ir which means the islands I’ve read and comes from the island just off the city’s coast. But it has always been known for the gleaming white buildings that run up the hills from the sea and the port.

Algiers was founded in 944.