Wender·Vista
Oran
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileAlgeria
on the Algerian coast, west of Algiers, the Mediterranean at its feet

Oran

— the white city the sea wind keeps polishing.

— 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 second city of Algeria, set on a wide Mediterranean bay below the fort of Santa Cruz. Spanish, Ottoman and French centuries are written into the streets. The birthplace of raï music and the setting of Camus's plague-bound city. The sea wind blows across the heights most afternoons. Observed from the studio, held in colour on the tile beneath a thin glossy finish.

from the studio
Oran
— bring it home

Oran, 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 Oran

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

Oran is the second-largest city in Algeria and the principal port of the country's western coast, with a metropolitan population of roughly 1.5 million. It sits on a deep Mediterranean bay below the limestone massif of the Murdjadjo, about 430 kilometres west of Algiers. The city was founded around 903 by Andalusian Moorish merchants, taken by the Spanish in 1509, ruled by the Ottomans from 1708, retaken briefly by Spain, then occupied by France in 1831. Independent Algeria reclaimed it in 1962.

— informed by Wikipedia — Oran
— the stone

The Fort of Santa Cruz crowns the Murdjadjo at about 400 metres above the harbour, built by the Spanish between 1577 and 1604 and later expanded under Philip III. Next to it stands the Chapel of Santa Cruz, raised in 1850 after a cholera epidemic. Down in the old city, the Mosque of the Pasha, built in 1796 of stone reportedly carried from the Spanish forts, anchors the lower town. Place du 1er Novembre, with its 1898 marble obelisk, marks the colonial-era civic centre.

— the year

Oran is the birthplace of raï, the Algerian popular music that emerged from the cafés and bordellos of the colonial-era port in the 1920s and reached the world stage with Cheb Khaled, Cheb Mami, and the late Cheikha Rimitti. The annual Festival International de Raï, held each summer, draws crowds from across the Maghreb. The city is also the setting of Albert Camus's 1947 novel La Peste, in which a plague seals the gates and the Mediterranean shuts the city in from the east.

— informed by Wikipedia — Raï
— where
Algeria · Oran, Oran Province
— position
35.6976° N · 0.6337° W
— 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.
4 km W
Fort of Santa Cruz
Spanish fortress
1 km centre
Place du 1er Novembre
civic square
N
Oran
Fort of Santa Cruz
Place du 1er Novembre
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Oran — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Oran is on Algeria's Mediterranean coast, about 430 kilometres west of Algiers and near the Moroccan border. It is the country's second-largest city and its principal western port.

A Spanish fortress on the Murdjadjo massif, about 400 metres above the harbour. The Spanish built it between 1577 and 1604; the Chapel of Santa Cruz beside it was added in 1850 after a cholera epidemic.

Raï, the popular music of modern Algeria, was born in Oran's port-quarter cafés in the early twentieth century. Cheikha Rimitti, Cheb Khaled, and Cheb Mami all came out of the city's music scene.

Albert Camus set his 1947 novel La Peste (The Plague) in Oran, where he had lived briefly in the early 1940s. The novel's sealed-off city closely matches the real harbour town of the period.

Founded by Andalusian Moorish merchants around 903, Oran was Spanish from 1509, Ottoman from 1708, briefly Spanish again, then French from 1831 to Algerian independence in 1962.

Spring and autumn, when temperatures are mild and the sea wind is steady. Summers are hot and dry; winters are cool and damp by Mediterranean standards, with most of the year's rain falling between November and February.

— about the piece in your home

Customers in the Algerian and Maghrebi diaspora have chosen these tiles for parents and elders. Oran is a city of layered memory, deeply known to anyone from the western coast. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries well.

The white-and-blue palette of the artwork suits Mediterranean-modern rooms, Coastal-modern interiors, and warm Minimalist palettes built around limewash, brass and weathered olive wood.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large reads from across the room. For a wider wall, a four-tile Mural opens the field; a nine-tile Mural becomes the room's centrepiece.

Yes. Choose the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any space with steam or splashes; both are scratch-resistant. The Glossy finish belongs on framed wall pieces away from direct water.

A soft microfibre cloth and warm water. No abrasive pads, no harsh cleaners. The colour is held inside the ceramic surface, beneath a thin protective layer, so the image will not wear off.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is an original piece curated by Reid Wender and produced in our Knoxville studio. We do not license the work to other makers.

— if this one stayed with you

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