SLAVE HOUSE

The Maison des Esclaves (Slave House), with its red walls and cellar chains, has been featured in every history book. Former curator Boubacar Joseph Ndiaye (who died in 2009) was an institution. Thanks to him, this building constructed by the Dutch in the ^17th century was renovated with the help of UNESCO in 1990. It is one of the last slave houses still standing, with a capacity of 150 to 200 slaves, and has become a symbol of the horror of the slave trade, from the sale of African slaves by the Africans themselves, to the commercialization of human beings sent to the Americas in their millions by Portuguese, then Dutch and French colonizers. Their country of destination depended on the needs of the buyers: the father might go to the USA, the mother to Brazil and the child to the West Indies. They left Gorée under matricule numbers. On the left is the weighing room - slaves weighing less than 60 kg were put on hold and force-fed until they reached their weight. Next door, the room where men fit to leave awaited their turn, then the room for children, young virgins and finally women. Under the stairs, dungeons for the recalcitrant. At the end of the corridor, the "door of no return", then the sea, the last passage before the Americas. Upstairs, an exhibition room features explanatory panels on the triangular trade, incorporating the latest research. A visit not to be missed.