If it is really in your mind and you are thinking to have a break from your busy life schedule, there’s this one destination that you will love, Dakar. There are various Things to do in Dakar which will make your Dakar Travel a lifetime experience.
While on Dakar Journey, many tourist attractions can be toured easily as they are in well accessible places. Some of them are:
- Parc National des Iles de la Madeleine
- IFAN Museum
- Ile de goree
- Maison des Esclaves
Here, you will find even the modern structures as well as the very old.
In this site, you will get a short pictorial walk throughout the most famous places of the Senegalese Capital City, Dakar.
Here are some of the sites that you should try to visit:
1. The railroad station:
What makes this structure a wonder of itself is its baroque state. The rail station was built in the 1883
2. La Cathédrale du Souvenir Africain (Cathedral of the African Memory):
The so-called “African Memory” cathedral was inaugurated in 1929 by Cardinal Verdier and consecrated in 1936 by the same man.
It has a big neo-soudano-bysantine-style nave. Another thing in the cathedral are the paintings on its ceiling.
It is sometimes the venue for religious ceremonies done by the cardinal.
3. La Place de l’Independance (The Independence Square):
It is the very heart of the city around which the main financial institutions, travel agencies, Airline buildings and other major offices are located. One cannot claim to have visited Senegal without going to the square.
4. Soumbédioune traditional village:
The site was stated in 1961. If you want to find some of the most breathtaking home-made articles of Senegal, here is the place to be. Among these are African masks, wooden articles, gold or silver jewels, leather, and all sorts of decorative articles and presents (masks, statues, leather goods, jewels, clothes, djambes.
5. The Law Courts:
The law courts were inaugurated in 1959, but much of the beauty they hosted is almost gone as they are falling into ruins.
6. The “Mamelles”:
Situated at an altitude of 104 meters, “les Mamelles” is the highest point of Dakar area. It is therefore quite a spectacle to view the furthest horizons that surround it.
7. Dakar’s harbor:
It can welcome several trading ships. One can see the container ships and their goods. It is also the place where one can find Gorée’s landing stage.
8. The “Ministère des affaires étrangères et des Sénégalais de l’extérieur” (Senegalese StateDepartment)
It was at first a law courts and then the head office of the National Assembly.
9. The Chamber of Commerce:
It was built in 1926 and inaugurated on February 8th 1929. It is situated on the Independence Square. It therefore makes it possible to see some of the greatest attractions in Dakar without much travel.
10. The National Assembly:
It was first designed as the palace of the ex-AOF’s “Grand Conseil”, it became the head office of the French Union Assembly.
Since the independencies, it has been the head office of the Senegalese Partnership.
11. The City Hall:
The city hall, (built in 1914) is the head office of Dakar’s city hall. It was, where the “Pères du Saint Esprit” house has been since 1847. It was a mission built on a small religious granting, by the upper chief Lébou of the time. With a classical architecture, the city hall has been a listed building. The House of the Elected Representative: It is the head office of the Senegalese mayors’ association.
12. The Great Mosque:
The Great Mosque is situated on the Pape Gueye FALL avenue. Its architecture has beeninspired by the Mohamed V Great Mosque of Casablanca. Everywhere in the Mosque onecan see several engraved mosaics (inside and outside the Mosque) and inside ornamentations. The minaret is as high as 67 meters. It is impossible to venture into the sanctuary instead of during the Friday’s big prayer. Nevertheless, visitors have to be very discreet and will have to take off their shoes and make a donation ( even a very small one) to the Mosque’s charitable work. The Great Mosque was built by French and Moroccan
Architects and was inaugurated in 1964 by King Hassan II.
13. The Presidential Palace:
When this was build, it was the palace f the first Governor General Rome. Later this became the Presidential Palace on September 25th 1960.
It symbolized the transfer of the French Western Africa’s General Government in Dakar. It faces the ocean and is guarded by the famous “gardes rouges de la presidence” (Presidency red guards)
14. The BCEAO:
The BCEAO was built by Pierre Atepa Goudiaby. It is the head office of the Central Bank of Africa’s Western countries.