History and slave trade
Gorée is a small island 900 m in length and 350 m in width sheltered by the Cape Vert Peninsula. Now part of the city of Dakar, it served for many centuries as one of the principal factories in the triangular trade between Africa, Europe and the Americas. Being almost devoid of drinking water, the island was not settled prior to the arrival of Europeans. The Portuguese were the first to establish a presence on Gorée (c. 1450), building a small stone chapel there and using it as a cemetery.
Gorée is best known as the location of the House of Slaves (French: Maison des esclaves), built by an Afro-French Métis family c. 1780 - 1784, one of the houses of slaves that were used as a holding and transfer point for human cargo during the slave trade. The House of Slaves is one of the oldest houses on the island. It is now a popular tourist destination. Well known in the western world, Gorée was actually just one of the many places from where slave trade was conducted, and in fact it was much smaller than the island of Zanzibar on the East African coast which was the largest center of the slave trade carried out by the Arabs. Zanzibar is arguably the largest slave trading center ever to have existed.
The island of Gorée was one of the first places in Africa to be settled by Europeans, the Portuguese setting foot on the island in 1444. Later it was captured by the United Netherlands in 1588, then the Portuguese again, again the Dutch who named it after the Dutch island of Goeree the British under Robert Holmes in 1664 and then eventually the French in 1677. The island remained continuously French until 1960 when Senegal was granted independence, with only brief periods of English occupation during the various wars fought by France and England between 1677 and 1815.
Gorée was principally a trading post, administratively attached to Saint Louis, capital of the Colony of Senegal. Apart from slaves, beeswax, hides and grain were also traded. The population of the island (not counting slaves in transit) fluctuated according to circumstances, from a few hundred free Africans and Creoles to about 1,500. There would have been few European residents at any one time. In the 18th and 19th century Gorée was home to a Franco-African Creole, or Métis, community of merchants with links to similar communities in Saint Louis and south to the Gambia and beyond. Métis women, called "signares" from the Portuguese "senhora", were especially important to the citys business life. The signares owned ships and property and commanded male clerks. They were also famous for cultivating fashion and entertainment.
Gorée is best known as the location of the House of Slaves (French: Maison des esclaves), built by an Afro-French Métis family c. 1780 - 1784, one of the houses of slaves that were used as a holding and transfer point for human cargo during the slave trade. The House of Slaves is one of the oldest houses on the island. It is now a popular tourist destination. Well known in the western world, Gorée was actually just one of the many places from where slave trade was conducted, and in fact it was much smaller than the island of Zanzibar on the East African coast which was the largest center of the slave trade carried out by the Arabs. Zanzibar is arguably the largest slave trading center ever to have existed.
The island of Gorée was one of the first places in Africa to be settled by Europeans, the Portuguese setting foot on the island in 1444. Later it was captured by the United Netherlands in 1588, then the Portuguese again, again the Dutch who named it after the Dutch island of Goeree the British under Robert Holmes in 1664 and then eventually the French in 1677. The island remained continuously French until 1960 when Senegal was granted independence, with only brief periods of English occupation during the various wars fought by France and England between 1677 and 1815.
Gorée was principally a trading post, administratively attached to Saint Louis, capital of the Colony of Senegal. Apart from slaves, beeswax, hides and grain were also traded. The population of the island (not counting slaves in transit) fluctuated according to circumstances, from a few hundred free Africans and Creoles to about 1,500. There would have been few European residents at any one time. In the 18th and 19th century Gorée was home to a Franco-African Creole, or Métis, community of merchants with links to similar communities in Saint Louis and south to the Gambia and beyond. Métis women, called "signares" from the Portuguese "senhora", were especially important to the citys business life. The signares owned ships and property and commanded male clerks. They were also famous for cultivating fashion and entertainment.
PLANETE DES ARTS DE GORÉE
