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Saint-Louis

Saint-Louis is a city and a world heritage site on the Grande Cote in Northern Senegal, at the mouth of Senegal River which serves as the border with Mauritania. With some 254,000 inhabitants (2023), it's the country's eighth largest city.

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5 places match

  1. See

    Faidherbe Bridge

    As boats were insufficient to handle traffic between Saint-Louis island and the mainland, a bridge opened in 1865 and named after the colonial administrator Louis Faidherbe. With the introduction of rail traffic across the bridge, it too became insufficient and the current bigger one was opened in 1897, but it inherited the name of the older bridge. There's a myth that the bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel – it's not, though his company indeed came second in the bidding process.

  2. See

    Grand Mosque of Saint-Louis

    Grande Mosquée de Saint-Louis

    A beautiful but rather low-key mosque that features a colonial-style architecture. The two minarets features both a clock and a ringing bell.

  3. See

    Guet N'Dar

    Walk to Guet Ndar, the fishing village that is located on the Langue de Barberie and watch the fisherman bring in their catch. If you're lucky, you might get a great deal on seafood. Dozens of trucks wait to buy up the fish (for as little as 500 CFA a crate) and transport them into the interior as far as Kaolack, Tambacounda and Mali. Local people carry the fish in baskets on their neck and on their heads. Women can be found smoking and drying fish next to the beach in vast cauldrons. Nearby very colorful pirogues are always under construction. It is possible to see nearly every stage from the first carvings to the final painting. If you walk into the residential district of Guet Ndar, you will see thousands of people trying to live their lives squeezed in a tiny area. The scene is very colorful and lively, but when you walk along the beach you will see the effects of overcrowding in the squalid sanitary conditions and insufficient trash disposal. There is a decent-sized market in Guet Ndar, somewhat smaller than the larger Sor market two bridges away.

  4. See

    Musée de l’Aéropostale Jean Mermoz

    This museum has displays about the colonial airmail service that played a role in the development of Saint-Louis as well as an exhibit about the pilot Jean Mermoz.

    Open Mon through SatThe entrance fee is 2000 CFA

  5. See

    Saint Louis Cathedral

    The oldest functioning church in West Africa, this Roman Catholic church was opened in 1828. Perhaps surprisingly, Saint-Louis didn't have a real church before this, despite almost two centuries of European presence here. It's the seat of the Diocese of Saint-Louis du Sénégal.