La Consulaire

La Consulaire is the name of a very large Algerian Barbary artillery piece which famously defended Algiers harbour.

La Consulaire is a 23-foot long smoothed-bore muzzle-loading gun, ordered by Hasan Pasha (son of Barbarossa) for the completion of the fortifications of Algiers.

Weighing twelve tons, it could fire projectiles of 80 kg (176 pounds) up to five kilometers (three miles)[1].

The gun was used in 1683 to project the limbs of the consul of France, Jean Le Vacher, towards the fleet of Admiral Duquesne, earning it its name.

It was brought back to Brest and mounted on a granite stand decorated with high reliefs, and is on display inside the military zone of the Arsenal, near Recouvrance Bridge.