The Madness of Yam

Dictatorial presidents in small countries can lead to some absolutely crazy sights.

Aminah in front of the Basilica, Yamoussoukro

I present to you item number 1 in the case for jury the largest church in the world, with a bargain price of just $300m, that the former Ivory Coast president decided to build in his home town of Yamoussoukro.

The scale of the building is incredible, capacity for 200,000 people.  The pillars are 30m tall and there are lifts in the interior columns that take you to the roof.

Interior of the basilica 

Basilica, Yamoussoukro

Basilica of Our Lady of Peace

The dome of the basilica is impossible to capture in a photograph fully but the scale and colours are incredible from the inside.

Basilica Dome

To keep the religious balance we also visited the mosque, you can still see the basilica in the background

Mosque, Yamoussoukro

Mosaic mosque pillars

 Having seen the postcards of the Basilica at night a few of us decided to return at sunset and photograph it once it lit up.  Having arrived we found that it's always better to check things than assume as the lights are only switched on for special days.  Still at least the sun didn't let us down and set on schedule..

Basilica at sunset

One final amusing anecdote from the way of the overlander; in towns & cities we've often tried to camp in hotel grounds, so we pull into the presidential hotel, Yamoussoukra and Hatter goes into negotiate our overnight stay.  The big boss man in full seriousness demands one million CAF ($200,000) - so we quickly move on.