MARIAN SHRINE OF ABIDJAN (OUR LADY OF AFRICA)

The little sister of Saint Paul's Cathedral is like a finger pointing to the sky, at the top of a hill overlooking the lagoon and the popular districts of Abidjan. A strange shape that can be guessed from the heights, dominating the chaotic mosaic of corrugated iron roofs. You reach it after crossing the quiet city of Fairmont, contrasting with the hustle and bustle of the streets of Adjamé, a little further down. In May 1980, Pope John Paul II, visiting the Ivory Coast for the first time, blessed the first stone of the future St. Paul's Cathedral and the future Marian Shrine, proposing on this occasion to baptize it "Our Lady of Africa". It was inaugurated in 1987 by Cardinal Bernard Yago, Archbishop of Abidjan, in the presence of the Head of State Félix Houphouët-Boigny.

The architect of the sanctuary is none other than Aldo Spirito, to whom we also owe Saint Paul's Cathedral. His style is easily identifiable, for example the rounded shape of the stained glass windows, as well as the royal blue that covers the "roof". There is a conical bell tower with an elliptical base, 53 m high. The bell tower, made entirely of reinforced concrete, has a 6 m high stained glass window at its top representing the Virgin Mary in the glory of the Assumption. The helical body of the building wraps around the bell tower, which includes the church itself, with a capacity of 800 seats, with its high altar, a tribune and the sacristy. The exterior walls, made of reinforced concrete, support a sloping helical roof covered with waterproof blue paint, while claustras, also made of concrete, provide natural ventilation. Outside, an 11 m high statue of the Virgin Mary.
Behind the high altar, a bay composed of sliding stained-glass windows depicts, from left to right, the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt and the Annunciation. Just opposite, another stained glass window depicts the Virgin Mary and the holy women at the foot of the cross. Two statues by Paul Siaka Coulibaly deserve special attention. The statue of Our Lady of Africa, represented as a smiling Ivorian woman sculpted in iroko wood, who takes her child out of her loincloth to present and offer it to humanity. The second statue, carved out of a half trunk of iroko 2.20 m high, is that of Calvary depicting John, the disciple to whom Jesus wanted to entrust his mother before dying, Mary and Christ.