Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast
Former President Felix Houphouët-Boigny moved the country's capital from Abidjan to his
hometown of Yamoussoukro and built the world's largest church there (as well as a presidential palace at a similarly great cost), doubling the national
debt of the country.
The basilique was constructed between 1985 and
1989 by lebanese architect Pierre Fakhoury with marble imported from Italy and
it is furnished with 7.000 square meters of stained glass from France. It is 158m (518 ft) high and, with an
area of 30.000 m2 (322,917 sq ft), it can accomodate
18.000 worshippers.
This lavishly built basilica sits in the middle of the
african bush in an impoverished city where only a minority of homes have running
water and adequate sanitation! It was consecrated in 1990 by Pope John Paul
II.