Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro

Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro, Roman Catholic basilica in Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire, that is the largest Christian church in the world by some measures. The basilica’s rapid construction in 1986–89 was ostensibly paid for by Côte d’Ivoire’s president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, and the building is situated in his birthplace, the city of Yamoussoukro. The church was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1990 and is esteemed as a symbol of peace and African fraternity. The basilica has the capacity to hold 18,000 worshippers, while the esplanade can accommodate a crowd of 300,000.

The basilica’s form is roughly based on that of St. Peter’s in Vatican City, with a dome surmounting a colonnade that is in the form of a Latin cross. The basilica is fronted by a large plaza encircled by two more colonnades. The 272 Doric columns that support the colonnades are made of cement and rise as high as 31 meters (101 feet). The basilica’s gigantic dome dwarfs that of St. Peter’s and rises to a height of 149 meters (489 feet).