Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro

The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace is a huge Catholic church in Yamoussoukro, the political capital of Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa. Guinness World Records lists it as the largest church in the world by area. It stands 158 m tall and is modeled on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, with a big dome and curved colonnades around its plaza. The main hall has seats for 7,000 people and room for 11,000 more standing.

President Félix Houphouët-Boigny ordered it built. The cornerstone was laid on 10 August 1985, work finished in 1989, and Pope John Paul II consecrated it on 10 September 1990.

Size and design

Architect Pierre Fakhoury designed it and the French firm Dumez built it. The dome is about 90 m wide, more than twice as wide as St. Peter's dome, though the whole building is slightly lower. The church and its grounds cover about 30,000 square meters, and it can hold roughly 18,000 people.

Light and glass

It has about 8,400 square meters of stained glass made from around 18,500 panels from France. Estimates of the cost vary a lot, from 175 million to 600 million US dollars. The church is a minor basilica, and the city's cathedral is a different, smaller building a few kilometers away.

A president's big dream

President Félix Houphouët-Boigny chose his birthplace, Yamoussoukro, as the new capital in 1983, and he wanted to leave a memorial there. The cost caused controversy because Ivory Coast was in an economic crisis. Pope John Paul II agreed to consecrate the basilica on condition that a hospital be built nearby, and that hospital opened in January 2015. Media called it the basilica in the bush. One stained-glass panel even shows the president kneeling beside Jesus. The big decorative columns hide elevators and rainwater pipes, and the pews are made of iroko wood.

On the globe

The model shows a giant dome with curved colonnades like St. Peter's in Rome. Look for the huge dome and the arms of columns.