Côte d'Ivoire

Grand-Bassam

WHS Score 2.31 Votes 12 Average 2.71

The historic town of Grand-Bassam is an example of rational town planning from the colonial period.

Built in the 19th century, this seaport was the French colonial capital of Cote d'Ivoire. Europeans and Africans lived divided into separate residential quarters. It had commercial and administrative zones, in which historic buildings in a sober and functional colonial style have been preserved. The indigenous N’zima village and its vernacular architecture already existed before colonization and were later incorporated into the urban plan.

Community Perspective: Lauren visited in 2019, and found it easily accessible though without tourist infrastructure.

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Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Historic Town of Grand-Bassam (ID: 1322)
Country
Côte d'Ivoire
Status
Inscribed 2012 Site history
History of Grand-Bassam
WHS Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • iii
  • iv
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article
  • Oct. 25, 2019 whc.unesco.org — UNESCO deploys emergency mission to evaluate impact of floods in Historic Town of Grand-Bassam, Côte d'Ivoire
  • March 13, 2016 news.sky.com — At least 12 people are dead after a gun attack on a beach resort in Grand-Bassam

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Urban landscape: Colonial
Travel Information
No travel information
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Connections of Grand-Bassam
Geography
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History
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Religion and Belief
Human Activity
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WHS on Other Lists
Timeline
News
whc.unesco.org 10/25/2019
UNESCO deploys emergency mission t…
news.sky.com 03/13/2016
At least 12 people are dead after …
Recent Visitors
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Community Reviews

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First published: 22/11/19.

Little Lauren Travels

Grand-Bassam

Grand-Bassam (Inscribed)

Grand-Bassam by Little Lauren Travels

Grand Bassam is a beach town about 45 minutes away from Abidjan. Its UNESCO status comes from the fact that it was a French colonial capital for a few years in the late 1800s. The capital was moved inland soon after it was established due to an outbreak of yellow fever, leaving behind a cluster of French colonial buildings that still remain today. Most of the site is on a barrier island/isthmus, which is walkable via a bridge from the modern town. The part on the isthmus is still sparsely inhabited, but has the eerie feeling of a ghost town due to the number of abandoned buildings. There was significant flooding in Grand Bassam in October 2019. When I visited in mid-November, the water levels were still high on the inland side, but water had cleared from the streets and there were few signs of damage.

As is a theme with some of the sites in Africa, I wish there was better upkeep and more information online. Although a few key buildings (like the costume museum in the former governor's palace) have been preserved, many of the buildings were deteriorating and some were abandoned. The upside is that there certainly were not a lot of tourists, and there seemed to be no tourist infrastructure when we went. But it was safe and easy to walk around. We wandered around for a few hours, gave a boy a tip to show us around one of the abandoned buildings, found one …

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