The Government Palace (Шаблон:Lang-ar, Шаблон:Lang-fr), known before 1962 as Gouvernement général, is the office of the Prime Minister of Algeria and a major public building in Algiers. At the time of its inauguration in 1933, with a surface of 33,000 m2, it was the largest administrative building of the entire French state.[1]
The project to build a new seat for the government of French Algeria was formulated in the context of the 100th anniversary of the Invasion of Algiers in 1830.[2] The complex was built between 1929 and 1934 on a design by architect Jacques Guiauchain, the grandson of one of French Algeria's first colonial architects, Шаблон:Ill, and eventually inaugurated in 1933. It encloses an entertainment and cinema venue, the Шаблон:Lang, which was built in 1929 and is now named after Ibn Khaldun.[1]
The Government Palace crowns the Boulevard Mohamed-Khemisti, a monumental perspective created in the early 20th century on former military grounds, which also includes the Grande Poste d'Alger.[4] The plaza or Forum in front of the Government Palace, formerly an open space but now closed to the public,[1] overlooks Algiers with a broad view towards the sea. Bordering that forum is also the Central Library Arts And Culture, a public library. Just below it, in a public garden, stands the Memorial to the Liberation of Algeria.