Monday 24 February 2025 
By: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- Algiers’ National Museum of the Moudjahid is an open book on the history of the Resistance and the Algerian Revolution for freedom and dignity, offering visitors a global and detailed overview of the key stages of the armed struggle of Algerians, in particular the offensive of Nord-Constantinois and the Congress of Soummam.
The National Museum of the Mujahid exhibits a range of photos on a mural fresco placed in the hall of the museum.
The photos exhibited in chronological order are “part of the archives gathered by the museum thanks, in particular, to the contributions of the mujahideen who contributed to the preservation of the collective national memory”, specified the cultural adviser to the National Museum of the Mujahid, Salah Eddine Ranem.
The space reserved for the North Constantine Offensive of 1955 is of “capital importance”, having contributed to extending the war to all corners of Algeria, in addition to the inclusion of the Algerian cause on the agenda of the tenth session of the General Assembly (GA) of the United Nations in September 1955, said the head of the Museum’s history research department, Oussama Houhou.
The archives exhibited in this part of the Museum reflect, in fact, the determination of Algerians to participate, as one man, in the revolution, and also denotes the colonial reactions animated by revenge and hostility and translated by the bombardment of villages and mechtas, as well as the massacre perpetrated at the Skikda stadium on August 23, 1955, causing 12,000 chahid, explained Mr. Houhou.
As for the Soummam Congress, the Museum depicts the circumstances of the holding of this historic congress in Ifri, a village on the heights of Bejaïa. The sense of organization and coordination of armed action is also highlighted.
Once the visitors get inside the Museum, they will discover the light and heavy weapons used at the time, as well as the wireless communication devices, which demonstrate, according to Mr. Houhou, “the technical and military mastery acquired by the revolutionaries over the years of armed struggle, and their ability to obtain arms despite the siege imposed by colonial France by various criminal methods”.
The visit would end at the Dome of Contemplation, this Islamic architectural masterpiece, whose walls are decorated with golden Quranic verses, and in the middle of which is a luminous rock symbolizing the mountains of Algeria, placed on a sandy soil, reminiscent of the Algerian Sahara and its contribution to the recovery of national sovereignty.
The museum exhibits painted works as well as weapons, archival documents and war objects that belonged to the Algerian mujahideen who fought against French colonization from 1830 to 1962.
Exceptional pieces include a work painted, in 1853, by Ange Tissier of the Emir Abdelkader, weapons and objects that belonged to the Emir Abdelkader as well as the fan used by Dey Hussein with which the French consul was slapped in 1827.
The national mujahid museum, which sits directly beneath the Monument of Martyrs (Makam el Chahid) in the commune of El Madania in the wilaya of Algiers, aims to collect, preserve and display objects and memories of the struggle against colonialism. It starts with the story of the French invasion of 1830, but focuses on the struggle from the uprising in Sétif, Constantine and Guelma in 1944 to Independence Day in July 1962.
In detail, the National Museum of the Moudjahid is an open book on the history of Algeria, from 1830 to 1962, the date of recovery of national sovereignty. It is divided into three distinct periods, namely; the popular armed resistance from 1832 to 1919, the period of political resistance, also known as the “Algerian national movement” from 1919 to 1954, then the pavilion of the national revolution which extends from 1954 to the date of independence.
All these eras are illustrated with archival documents, objects that belonged to historical personalities, such as, among others; Emir Abdelkader, Hadj Ahmed Bey and Larbi Ben Mhidi.
The museum’s lower floor is a domed sanctuary, a natural shrine of low light and silence, and its walls are inscribed with verses from the Holy Quran.
Opening hours
The museum is open from Saturday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Prices
The entrance ticket costs 20 dinars.
Entrance is free for mujahideen and Algerian Army’ soldiers.
Contact details
The National Mujahid Museum
Address: Riadh El Feth, El Madania, 16000, Algiers, Algeria.
Telephone: +213 021 66 92 08
Fax: +213 021 66 91 54
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Musee-Nationale-Du-Moudjahid/688625821217140
Location via map: