Historic town of Grand-Bassam
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How it came to be
Grand-Bassam, between the Ébrié Lagoon and the sea in south-eastern Côte d'Ivoire, has been home to the Nzema people since the 15th century and grew as a fishing and trading village.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the French built a planned town here, with separate quarters for commerce, administration and housing for Europeans and Africans. Colonial houses with galleries and verandas lined its streets, and it became the country's main port and its economic and judicial centre.
After yellow fever struck in 1899, the administration moved to nearby Bingerville. With the growth of Abidjan in the 1930s the port declined too, and much of the town stood empty for decades. The historic town, with the Nzema fishing village, was inscribed in 2012.
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