A couple days ago I trekked up to Yamoussoukro, the official capital of Cote d'Ivoire. The city isn't much, but there's a lot more there than 50 years ago. Yamoussoukro, known by the sweet nickna
me Yakro, just happens to be the home town of founding father/long-time president Houphouet Boigny. During his 30+ years of rule he built the city up and put into motion the process of moving the capital from Abidjan to Yakro.
The legacy of this work begins with highways to nowhere. Six-lane roads, I was stunned to see, actually have lanes painted on them and traffic lights that work, something that the bustling roads of Abidjan could use. The fantastic roads are occasionally dotted with a few cars. The roads take you to a foundation in Boigny's honor, the presidential palace, Hotel du President and other impressive buildings found among fields and empty lots
.
But, the main legacy of Boigny's investment in this city is the National Basillica. For an undisclosed sum, Boigny commissioned a French architect to design and build the world's largest Basillica. They kinda cheated a little because the dome is smaller than St. Peter's in Rome, but the huge cross on tops gives it the edge.
It is big. And it is breathtaking, all the much more so because
it is completely
surrounded by abandoned fields. All sense of scale is completely lost as one walk up to this immense
structure, which is double the size of Notre Dame in Paris. In this picture, you can almost feel that car's humiliation next to the dome.
The inside, where they wouldn't let me take pictures, is equally amazing. Here are a few:
The Basillic is an absolutely magnificent strucutre. I love architecture, particularly its ability to throw our senses out of wack and humble us with its power (e.g. the same reason why I love the natural architectural feat that are waterfalls). I also like the unexpected, and who'd've of though the most magnificent church I've ever been to would not be in France, Italy or Spain but in Cote d'Ivoire. Thus, this building is an, er, Mecca for me.
But, my development instincts won't let me fully enjoy it. The millions and probably billions of dollars sunk into this building could certainly have been used to better the lot of the nation's millions of poor. How can I justify this expense, other than by saying that this is better than a secret Swiss bank account?
But it is beautiful, and a place that I will not soon forget. If I were a religious person, perhaps I'd ask God to help me figure this dilemma out. In any case, I do know a great place that I can go pray...
