Wender·Vista
Casbah of Algiers
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileAlgeria
above the bay of Algiers, on the Mediterranean coast

Casbah of Algiers

— — the white city stepping down to the sea.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“The old citadel of Algiers, a dense medina of whitewashed houses and stepped alleys falling from the hill of the Kasbah down to the bay. Founded by the Berber Zirids in the tenth century on Phoenician ruins, it became one of the great cities of the Ottoman Mediterranean. The Ketchaoua Mosque sits near the lower gate. UNESCO listed it in 1992. — from the studio

from the studio
Casbah of Algiers
— bring it home

Casbah of Algiers, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Casbah of Algiers

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

The Casbah is the old fortified medina of Algiers, the capital of Algeria, set on the hill that rises from the bay on the Mediterranean coast. The Berber Zirid dynasty founded the city in the tenth century on the remains of the earlier Phoenician and Roman settlement of Icosium. The medina takes its name from the citadel at its summit. UNESCO inscribed the Casbah on its World Heritage list in 1992 as one of the great surviving examples of an Ottoman-era Maghreb medina.

— the stone

The medina is built of whitewashed lime-rendered masonry stepped down the steep slope on a Phoenician street grid that has never been straightened. Inside the dense network of stairways stand the Ottoman-era palaces of the Dey, the seventeenth-century Ketchaoua Mosque near the lower gate, and the older Djamaa el Kebir, the Great Mosque founded under the Almoravids in 1097. Houses turn inward to small courtyards, with carved cedar screens and tiled fountains hidden behind unmarked doors.

— the year

Algiers became the seat of the Regency under the Ottomans from 1516 and held its independence as a Mediterranean power until the French invasion of 1830. Through the war of independence the Casbah was the centre of the Algerian resistance, and the events there became the subject of Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 film The Battle of Algiers. Independence came in 1962. The medina is now home to several thousand families, with restoration work ongoing under the UNESCO listing.

— where
Algeria · Algiers, Algiers Province
— position
36.7833° N · 3.0600° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
0.3 km S
Ketchaoua Mosque
mosque
4 km E
Djamaa el Djazaïr
mosque
1 km E
Bay of Algiers
bay
N
Casbah of Algiers
Ketchaoua Mosque
Djamaa el Djazaïr
Bay of Algiers
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Casbah of Algiers — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The old fortified medina of Algiers, set on a steep hillside above the Mediterranean. Founded by the Berber Zirids in the tenth century on Phoenician ruins, it has been UNESCO World Heritage listed since 1992.

The name comes from the Arabic qasaba, meaning citadel, after the fortress that crowned the hill at the top of the medina. The term has since spread to old quarters across the Maghreb.

The Ketchaoua Mosque near the lower gate, the Djamaa el Kebir founded in 1097, and several surviving Ottoman-era palaces of the Dey, all set inside a dense network of stepped alleys built on the Phoenician street grid.

The Berber Zirids founded the present city in the tenth century on the site of the earlier Phoenician and Roman settlement of Icosium. The street grid has never been straightened, and parts of it follow the ancient lines.

It was the centre of the Algerian resistance through the war of independence, and the events there became the subject of Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 film The Battle of Algiers, one of the most studied political films of the century.

Yes. The medina is a living quarter inside the city of Algiers, accessible on foot from the lower city. Guided walks are the usual way through; the inner alleys are narrow and steep.

— about the piece in your home

It has carried well for our customers with roots in Algeria and the wider Maghreb. The Casbah is the visual heart of Algiers, and a Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio reads as considered and personal.

The warm white walls and Mediterranean light settle into Mediterranean-modern, North African, and stone-and-linen interiors. It also reads well as a single piece against a deep painted wall in a study or hallway.

Yes. North African and broader Mediterranean references have been a steady current in interior design, and the white-on-blue palette of the Casbah works against both lime plaster walls and warm wood.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large or a four-tile Mural reads well. Above a long console or in a stairwell, a nine-tile Mural gives the medina room to step down the wall.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish, which are scratch-resistant and made for vertical installation in wet rooms. The Glossy finish is meant for framed wall art in dry rooms.

A microfibre cloth and warm water. No solvents, no abrasive pads. The colour lives in the ceramic surface, so the finish is durable, but light cleaning is the rule.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is made in our family studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. The work is not licensed from any third party and is not sold anywhere outside the studio.

— if this one stayed with you

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