Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves) (Gorée Island, Senegal)

Maison des Esclaves (House of Slaves) (Gorée Island, Senegal)

Subject (Topic)
Middle Passage
Transatlantic Slave Trade
Slave Trade
Dakar, Senegal

The island of Gorée was the site of one of the earliest European settlements in Western Africa and from the 15th to the 19th century, served as the largest slave-trading site on the African coast. Built in 1776, Maison des Esclaves, was a detention center for captured Africans who were destined to be sold as slaves. In 1962 the home was established as a museum dedicated to telling the “personal stories of a private home and the role of its owners in both local business and the slave trade.”

International Coalition of Sites of Conscience

To learn more about UNESCO's Island of Gorée World Heritage Site, click here.

To listen to a short interview with the curator of the Maison des Esclaves, click here.

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English

Building and Structures

Rue St-Germain, Gorée Island, Senegal

Building and Structure