Casbah of Algiers

For other uses, see Casbah of Algiers (disambiguation).

The Casbah (French) or as transliterated from Arabic Qasba (from qasba, قصبة, 'citadel') is specifically the citadel of Algiers and the traditional quarter clustered round it. More generally, kasbah denotes the walled citadel of many North African cities and towns. The word made its way into English from French in the late 19th century (the Oxford English Dictionary says 1895), and continues to be spelled as acquired from that language.

In Rabat, the capital of Morocco since 1912, the Casbah of the Oudaya is the military barracks encircled by walls with gates, built in the 16th and 17th centuries on ancient foundations.

Casbah of Algiers

Kasbah of Algiers

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Criteria	Cultural: ii, v
Reference	565
Inscription	1992 (16th Session)

The Casbah of Algiers is founded on the ruins of old Icosium. It is a small city which, built on a hill, goes down towards the sea, divided in two: the High city and the Low city. One finds there masonries and mosques of the 17th century; Ketchaoua mosque (built in 1794 by the Dey Baba Hassan) flanked of two minarets, mosque el Djedid (1660, at the time of Turkish regency) with its large finished ovoid cupola points some and its four coupolettes, mosque El Kébir (oldest of the mosques, it was built by almoravide Youssef Ibn Tachfin and rebuilt later in 1794), mosque Ali Betchnin (Raïs, 1623), Dar Aziza, palate of Jénina. To outsiders, the Casbah appears to be a confusing labyrinth of lanes and dead-end alleys flanked by picturesque houses; however if one loses oneself there, it is enough to go down again towards the sea to reposition oneself.

In popular culture

The 1938 movie Algiers (a remake of the French film Pépé le Moko of the previous year) was most Americans' introduction to the picturesque alleys and souks of the Casbah. In 1948 a musical remake, Casbah, was released.

The invitation "Come with me to the Casbah," which was heard in trailers for Algiers but not in the film itself, became an exaggerated romantic overture, largely owing to its use by Looney Tunes cartoon character Pepé Le Pew, himself a spoof of Pépé le Moko. The amorous skunk used "Come with me to ze Casbah" as a pickup line. In 1954, the Looney Tunes cartoon "The Cat's Bah" specifically spoofed Algiers, with the skunk enthusiastically declaring, "You do not have to come with me to ze Casbah.... We are already 'ere!"

In the 1966 film The Battle of Algiers, the main characters (other than Col. Mathieu) live in the Casbah.

In 1982 the British London-based punk rock group The Clash released the single "Rock the Casbah", about Iran's outlawing of music, particularly disco. The song reached #15 in the UK music charts. The following year the single was released in the U.S., reaching #8 in the charts. "Rock the Casbah" was also the first song played on the Armed Forces Radio during Operation Desert Shield. It became the unofficial anthem for the U.S. Armed Forces during the Gulf War occupations. Rachid Taha, an Algerian singer based in France closely connected to The Clash, recorded "Rock el Casbah" in Arabic.

"Casbah" is the name of a song by Red Box included on their 1990 album Motive.

The Casbah was also the name of one of the first clubs The Beatles ever performed in. It was the basement of Pete Best's mother's house.

The Tenacious D song "Beelzeboss (The Final Showdown)", from the 2006 album The Pick of Destiny, includes the line, "We rock the casbah, and blow your mind"

Sarah Brightman recorded a song called "Mysterious Days" on her 2003 album Harem, in which lyrics say: "American writers now work in the attic, up in the Casbah, there's plenty to worship."

The computer game Team Fortress Classic features a map called "Casbah"; unlike ordinary maps in the game, "Casbah" is not symmetric for both teams.

The 2000 AD comic strip Rogue Trooper featured a story called "The Gasbah" (Progs 343-347) which is set in an alien town reminiscent of the Casbah.