I found the WORLD’S LARGEST CHURCH in a small town in West Africa (Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast)

I found the WORLD’S LARGEST CHURCH in a small town in West Africa (Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast)

In this video, join me as I explore the fascinating capital city of Kot Devoir, also known as the Ivory Coast. In 1964, the country’s first president, Felix Ufet Bueni, made ambitious plans for a city to be built near his birthplace in the heart of the country. And in 1983, the city was declared the political and administrative capital of the nation. As a devout Catholic, he also ordered the largest Christian church in the world to be built here. And in 1990, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace opened its doors at a cost of $600 million US. The story of this city is beyond unique, and despite its relatively remote location and small size, it’s well worth spending at least a couple of days here to truly dig deep into the identity of this nation. Welcome to Yamasucro, Kot Deivoir. [Music] All right, just got a taxi here and heading to the massive Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, one of the largest churches in the world. So, it should be good today. [Music] And this is the incredible Basilica of Our Lady of Peace. This is, I believe, the second largest dome church on earth. One of the largest churches in general on earth and pretty outstanding. The Pope demanded that the dome not be higher than St. Peter’s Church in the Vatican City. So, they respected that. But it’s like the Vatican City, the Vatican City of Africa. Very, very cool place. I’m going to head inside and actually attend mass here. Outstanding church. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] So pretty incredible stained glass. It’s like everywhere. I can’t even soak it all up. It’s just overwhelming. Visually overwhelming. So you can see just how outstanding this building is. Such a cool place. This exceeded my expectations. I mean, every wall is stained glass. Like, so cool. One of the coolest tourist sites I’ve been to in Africa so far. Really cool. I had no idea this existed. So, pretty incredible place. Honestly, such a cool church. And I can see why the Kotaboreian people are so proud of this place. Uh there’s such a Catholic nation here in the south at least. in the north bordering Mali and Burkina Faso it’s quite Muslim but in this part it’s Christian so Catholic so uh definitely a huge part of their identity down here and the president was a very devout Catholic and wanted to create this basilica to put Yamasukra on the map and to really emphasize the Catholic identity of the Kotvoreian people so really outstanding and this is actually the Pope’s residence when he visits Yamasukro so the Pope’s palace right here on the grounds right next to this incredible basilica. So there has been some criticism about the amount of money that has went into I suppose building this basilica. So Ivory Coast is a very poor country. So it goes without saying that there was some criticism about is this the best way to spend your resources. But the president really wanted to put Yamasukra on the map given it was his hometown. So this is the result and yeah it’s made international headlines for sure. Very cool church. And you can see the front of the basilica is really made to look like St. Peter’s in the Vatican City. So I walked a couple hundred meters down this really lovely green strip that heads towards downtown Yamasucro and amazing views here of the Basilica with the central square. It really does seem like the Vatican City. So I can see why it’s called the Vatican City of Africa. Very cool. I’m glad to have visited. So, this is the crocodile pool right in front of the presidential palace. Pretty incredible. They’re just lying around. That’s the gate to the presidential palace right there. And the presidential palace is just right there across the bank. I’m not going to linger there on that. But, uh, pretty incredible crocodiles. I don’t see any more though, just the one right now. Oh, there’s one over there swimming as well. Pretty cool. So, definitely a tranquil place. I don’t know how clean the water is, but definitely full of crocodiles. So, pretty amazing. I’m not sure what the story is if they were put here. This is just their natural habitat, but pretty incredible to see at least a few heads popping out. I think I see four in total that I’ve counted so far, but uh they’re pretty subdued. They just look like a bunch of rocks popping out of the surface of the water, but uh not moving too much, but still pretty cool to see the crocodile pools of Yamasucro and the presidential palace in the distance. I think I’ve had enough of Yamasuko. It’s really hot and muggy today. It’s probably in the 30s, but really humid, so it’s sticky. I’m going to try to get onto an air conditioned bus as soon as possible to Abby John. Should be there in about 4 hours. Going to take most of the afternoon, but uh definitely enjoyed Yamas. There’s lots to do here in terms of just the amazing beauty of the basilica. And this crocodile pool is kind of cool, too. But anyway, heading out. So, one thing that’s amazing about Cottoar right out of the gate compared to all the other uh West African countries since I guess Morocco, they don’t require all the seats to be filled. So, bus leaves on time no matter what. It’s a pretty comfortable bus company. You can see the seats are really plush and the onboard entertainment seems to be films. So, interesting. All right, after about 4 hours, I’ve arrived here at the UTB bus terminal in Abijan. And one thing I’m going to miss dearly about Potivoir is this Ivorio variety of juices. They’re so good. Had them in Sagal as well, but uh man, I’m hooked. All right, I’m on my way to the hotel. All right, we are arriving in the plateau district of downtown Abujan. Huge buildings. Right, arrived at the hotel. I’m staying here at the Scene Hotel, Abijan Plateau. And this is a view from the hallway window. But man, that’s beautiful. Very modern city of Abijan. So, I’ve just arrived at my hotel room here at the Scene Hotel, Abigan Plateau. And oh my goodness, I am so impressed with the quality of the rooms here. This room was not cheap. It was $120 Canadian per night or about 90 bucks US. Little workstation here, desk, mini fridge, USB charging ports, too. So, good business hotel. Have a little chase lounge here almost. Very clean bed. I would be shocked if this has any bed bug problems. It’s funny cuz I’ve been to 120 countries now and I’ve only experienced bed bugs on this trip twice. I don’t know why I’ve had such bad luck on this trip, but I really don’t think it’s going to be a problem here. little safe, closet area, TV, and right over here is the bathroom. But yeah, absolutely beautiful property, and I’m definitely glad I chose this hotel. I hope you enjoyed this video, and if you did, please give it a big thumbs up, subscribe if you haven’t already, and don’t forget to click the bell icon to be notified when new episodes are posted. Thanks again for watching, and I will see you in the next video. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music]

You’d be forgiven if you thought that Christianity’s largest church might be found in the Vatican City, elsewhere in Europe, or perhaps some megachurch in the United States or South Korea. Surprisingly, I found the world’s largest church in the small West African capital city of Yamoussoukro, Cote D’Ivoire (aka. Ivory Coast) and WOW – it did not disappoint.

In 1963, Ivory Coast’s first President, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, decreed that a city be built near his birthplace village in the heart of the country. Twenty years later, Yamoussoukro became the political and administrative capital of Cote D’Ivoire, replacing Abidjan. As a devout Catholic, Félix Houphouët-Boigny also wanted Yamoussoukro to be a spiritual place of pilgrimage for Catholics worldwide, so he ordered that the largest Catholic basilica in the world be built here, on the swampy plains roughly 300 km north of the largest city of Abidjan. In 1990, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace was consecrated and opened its doors, at a cost of $600 Million USD.

In this video, join me as I attend Sunday Mass at this incredible basilica located pretty well in the middle of nowhere, where I admire its architecture, opulent stained-glass windows, and mingle with the locals before heading over to the Presidential Palace to check out the crocodile pools. Despite its small size, Yamoussoukro is one of the most unique, fascinating, and shockingly EMPTY planned cities in the world (and has Nawpyitaw, Myanmar vibes for those of you who may have been there!). “Yakro” turned out to be one of the highlights of my journey through West Africa so far, and I highly recommend that you spend a couple of nights here if you find yourself in the area.

Do you think the $600 Million USD investment in the basilica was justified, given that Cote D’Ivoire is a fairly impoverished country? Why or why not? Let me know what you think of Yamoussoukro in the comments!

00:00 Intro
01:07 Taxi to Basilica
01:31 Basilica of Our Lady of Peace
04:53 Presidential Palace / Crocodile Pool
06:15 UTB Bus to Abidjan
06:37 Arriving in Abidjan
07:05 Seen Hotel Abidjan Plateau
08:13 Outro

Episode 233 | #Africa #WestAfrica #CoteDIvoire #IvoryCoast | #Yamoussoukro #Abidjan | Filmed April 2024

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Tracks featured in this episode:
Future Vibes by Qeeo
Baraka Fi Donya (Instrumental Version) by Ebo Krdum
Harlig Ar Jorden (Organ Version) by Kurt Lyndon
Umbele (Instrumental Version) by Ebo Krdum

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