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Rising above the African landscape we see
the amazing dome of the Our Lady of Peace Basilica in Yamoussoukro, a replica of the
Vatican finished in 1989 after just three years of work.
The mammoth church was the undertaking of a pious ex-president of the Ivory Coast who
squandered his fortune and built this basilica as a gift to the Vatican.
17 acres of the finest European marble... It's got everything! I'm lost among hundreds
of Doric columns. (Actually there are 127).
To compound the picture, the holy compound includes a replica of Saint Peters's Square, including Bernini's open-air arrangement of columns.
Given its exotic location, it's no surprise to find it empty. After all, people around here have other equally respectable belief systems...
This drawing shows a comparison of the original and the replica.
Imagine! It sits 7,000 people
and every pew has air conditioning and speakers for sound! Astounding... and dreadfully wasteful!
80,000 square feet of stained-glass windows casting light and colour on the interior.
One of the huge stained-glass windows depicts the arrival of Christ in Jerusalem astride
a donkey, with the pious ex-president kneeling before him. There's a certain artistic license, of course.
Under the baldachin there's a solid-gold cross
weighing 110 pounds... not very logical considering that Jesus was poor, as poor as most inhabitants
of this continent.
Astonished by this unexpected luxury in the heart of Africa, I'm off to a more Spartan environment.