Kolea

Kolea, town, northern Algeria. It is located about 17 miles (27 km) southwest of Algiers, on the southern, inland slopes of the coastal hills overlooking the valley of Wadi Mazafran and the Mitidja plain. It was founded in 1550 by Khayr al-Dīn (Barbarossa), the Barbary pirate, and was originally populated by Andalusian Moors. Kolea was held by the forces of Abdelkader against the French from 1832 until the former were subdued in 1843. Destroyed by an earthquake in 1825, the town was rebuilt along French lines. The 17th-century mosque of Sīdī Embarek was converted into a hospital, but the adjoining qubbah, or shrine, has remained an important place of Muslim pilgrimage. The town is noted for handmade embroidery and lace. Pop. (2010) 46,685.