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**kimporte** · 16 mai 2011, 08h38

Tlemcen :An ancient Islamic city dresses up for a gala year

16. Tlemcen, Algeria
An ancient Islamic city dresses up for a gala year.

There’s a buzz of anticipation — and power tools — in the streets, squares and souks of this ancient Algerian city. Named a Capital of Islamic Culture for 2011 by Isesco (Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), Algeria’s spiritual heart is preparing for a yearlong gala that will include some 300 exhibitions, concerts, screenings, theater performances, lectures and readings. The ruins of medieval ramparts and towers are being refurbished. Time-worn mosques and hammams are being dusted off. Cultural centers and museums are being started. And a first generation of five-star hotels — notably a Renaissance by Marriott— is rising from the ground.

Why Tlemcen? As the seat of a medieval dynasty that controlled much of North Africa, Tlemcen has long been a center of Islamic learning, culture and art. Skilled craftsmen ply their wares around the Kissaria market, traditional orchestras show off their chops every summer at the city’s festival of Arabo-Andalusian music, and the Muslim faithful pour into magnificent religious edifices like the Great Mosque and the tomb of Sidi Boumediene — a revered 12th-century Islamic scholar. With the approaching festival, the city should at last recapture some of its past glory.

SETH SHERWOOD, New York Times

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NY Times : Parmi les 41 endroits au monde a voir,Tlemcen,Algerie

NY Times : Parmi les 41 endroits au monde a voir,Tlemcen,Algerie

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