A grand neo-Byzantine cathedral in central Oran, built between 1904 and 1913 when the city had a large French and Spanish Catholic population. The building is enormous — the dome dominates the surrounding streetscape — and the architecture is handsome, with striped stonework and a broad facade that would not look out of place in Istanbul.
Since 1984, it has served as the city's main public library. The interior has been refitted with bookshelves and reading desks, but the ecclesiastical architecture remains intact: vaulted ceilings, stained glass, and the original dome soaring above rows of students bent over their textbooks. Pigeons nest in the upper galleries. The contrast between the sacred architecture and its everyday secular use is striking and oddly moving. Worth a visit even if you have no intention of reading — just walk in, look up, and appreciate the space.