the different faces of religion in Cote d'Ivoire

Besides watching traditional mask dances, my tour group in Cote d'Ivoire also visited a few religious sites.  My favourite was this 17th century mud mosque in Kong, not even mentioned on the tour itinerary so a real treat.  Apparently it is no longer used, but is maintained due to its historical significance; the larger nearby mosque in the same style is still in use.

Much more well known is the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in the administrative capital, Yamoussoukro.  Constructed at great expense, as a near copy of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, it can hold up to 18,000 people but our guide told me that only around 700 people attend the service there most weeks.  At least the former president who commissioned it (Félix Houphouët-Boigny) had the good sense to 'donate' it to the Catholic Church (to John Paul II who was pope at that time), so the annual $1.5m upkeep is borne by the Catholic Church and not by the people of Cote d'Ivoire.  A bit of a white elephant in my view, some of my group were very impressed by it.  I don't think it is even worth putting a photo here on the blog!

I was more impressed by the snakes and fertility symbols on the fetish hut in the village of Niofon...

In terms of mainstream religious buildings though, I was impressed by the much more modern St Paul's Cathedral in Abidjan.  It has some amazing stained glass windows in a modern, African style such as this one to the right.  The largest window appears to me to depict the African paradise (garden of Eden?), with lush vegetation, elephants, monkeys and colourful birds, and a few Africans bearing bowls of fruit as gifts for some dour-looking white men getting out of a boat onto the beach - white men who in my interpretation are about to upset the existing social structures, impose borders in the wrong places and generally exploit the continent ... thankfully I hadn't expressed this view out loud as our guide explained that they were missionaries who had brought the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to the continent.  Hmmm...