Between the busy Belouizdad district and the bay of Algiers, the Jardin d'Essai du Hamma covers more than 30 hectares of palms, ficus and flower beds. It is one of the most important botanical gardens in the world, and one of the places our Algiers team loves to show visitors first.
An experimental garden
Work on the marshy site started in 1831, and the garden was laid out in 1832 with a practical aim: to test which plants from around the world could be acclimatised and grown on a large scale. Under its director Auguste Hardy, from 1842 to 1867, it grew rapidly and trials included cotton, sugar cane and silkworms. After an earthquake and epidemics in 1867 it was partly abandoned, then redesigned between 1914 and 1929, when a horticultural school was also founded.
Classified as a natural monument in 1967, the garden closed for a long restoration and reopened in 2009.
What to see
The garden is divided into a formal French garden, a more romantic English garden and exotic zones, with around 2,500 plant species. Highlights include avenues of giant palms where birds gather at dusk, an arcade of dragon trees, bamboo groves and an enormous ficus with hanging aerial roots — the garden served as a film set for a Tarzan movie in the 1930s.
Art lovers will find stone sculptures along the alleys, and Auguste Renoir painted the garden during his stay in Algiers in 1882.
The zoo
At the northern entrance, behind an Art Deco gate, a small zoo opened in 1900. It houses birds, big cats and local species such as gazelles and Barbary sheep.
Practical tips
The garden is easy to reach by metro (Jardin d'Essai station). Opening hours change with the seasons, so ask your guide. Plan two hours, and combine your visit with the Martyrs' Memorial on the hill above or the Museum of Fine Arts next door. A visit is included in the SEFAR Aventure circuit "Algiers, Tipaza & the Casbah".
