Dar Khedaoudj el Amia

Dar Khedaoudj el Amia is one of the finest surviving Ottoman domestic interiors in the Casbah. The palace is now part of the national museum system and houses a collection of Algerian traditional costumes, jewellery, and household objects. The building itself — a sequence of galleried courtyards, each with marble floors, painted ceilings, and a central fountain — is the main attraction.

The palace is in the upper Casbah, and finding it requires some determination. Ask for the "musée de miniatures" or "dar el beida" — it goes by several names locally. Opening hours are irregular; the best approach is to arrive between 10am and noon on a weekday.

things to do museum
A story
The palace is named after a woman, "the blind one," though the identity of Khedaoudj is debated. What is certain is that she did not give her name to a dark place: the internal courtyards of this 17th-century Ottoman house are among the lightest and most refined spaces in the entire Casbah.