ARCHITECTURE - Second Revision
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ARCHITECTURE
A VATICAN IN AFRICA?
IT’S THE WORLD’S LARGEST CHURCH AND WAS
ACCEPTED BY THE POPE!
Nic Bothma—epa/Corbis
AMONG TOOLS FOUND FROM HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO--- AND
EMERGING FROM THE DESERT IN THE LEGAL CAPITAL OF THE IVORY COAST---
THERE IS A STRUCTURE THAT IS AN ENIGMA AND PERHAPS AN EYESORE TO ITS
CITIZENS --- A LOOKALIKE REPLICA OF ST. PETER’S BASILICA. THE CITY IS
YAMOUSSOUKRO. (SAY THAT THREE TIMES FAST!) IT WAS BUILT BY PRESIDENT
FÉLIX HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY IN 1989 AT A COST OF ABOUT $300 MILLION, IT
MEASURES 30,000 SQUARE METERS,
IT IS THE LARGEST CHURCH ON EARTH, SURPASSING THE GUINNESS WORLD
RECORD..., AND THE WHOLE THING IS TOTALLY EMPTY.
A TRIP TO THE MOUNTAINS - 2
FAMIL(C) GABYGOBOUY
WRITTEN BY BRIGITTE SCHWARTZ
A
SURPRISINGLY, HOWEVER, IT WAS
CONSECRATED BY POPE JOHN PAUL II ON
SEPTEMBER 10, 1990.
O
WRITTEN BY ARABELLE ALEJO
Images (c) Jbdodane
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Other noteworthy Structures are the
Kossou Dam, the PDCI-RDA House, the WHEN GOING ON A HIKING TRIP, KEEPING
schools of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny YOUR ENERGY LEVELS UP IS A MUST.
National Polytechnic Institute, the MOM'S OATMEAL BARS REALLY CAME IN
HANDY!
Town Hall, the Protestant Temple, the
Mosque, and the Palace of Hosts. Photo:WILLAV-FRt
Street vendors surrounding a bus in
Yamoussoukro
It can accommodate 18,000 worshippers, compared to 60,000 for St. Peter's.
(c) Mount Holyoke McCulloch Centerxt
Thirty acres of marble from Italy and 23,000 square feet of contemporary
stained glass were imported from France.
(All 7000 inside seats are also air-conditioned.)
(c) Jbdodanedd
The Basilica
took three years to build, headed by Lebanese architect, Pierre
Fakhoury. An army of hard laborers worked secretly both day and
night. When the Vatican got wind of its replica design, Pope John Paul II
personally requested that the observatory crowning the dome be built
slightly lower than the height of St. Peter’s dome. The Ivorian President
complied, but then went ahead and topped his dome with a huge gold cross,
earning it yet another title of the tallest church in Christendom.
Aerial View via Google Maps
(c)A Al-MamunAdd a subheading
One very interesting fact - Even though the Basilica can seat
thousands of people, here's the rub:
in a nation where more than two thirds of its people aren’t even Christian, it's
tough just filling a few seats. A recent visitor to the Ivory Coast said that
there weren't more than three other people inside when he toured the massive
house of worship. Regardless of that fact, the basilica is promoted
shamelessly as the country's biggest tourist attraction. Forget seeing pygmy
hippopotami and 11 species of monkeys, as well as African forest elephants,
buffalos, pangolins, bushbuck, leopards, chimpanzees, zebras and Reptiles
including snakes such as horned vipers, mambas, and pythons.
No attraction there, right?
This dated tourism video shows
the Basilica of Yamoussoukro
alongside golf courses, hotels and casinos.
https://youtu.be/9huAisBbsKI
To top off the hubris , President Houphouët-Boigny
commissioned his portrait beside Jesus in one of the stained glass panes inside
the basilica. However, the President’s
legacy was not what he had hoped for because whatever economic growth
Yamoussoukro achieved... quickly dissipated less than a decade after the grand
monument was completed. Why?
Because the country was plunged into a civil war.
In the distance, beyond the the everyday life of the people
who struggle to survive, we see the basilica, once a beacon of
promise. Now it, at best, can serve as a place to cool off the
behinds of the 7,000 people who view it as a
"Beat the Heat" sanctuary.
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