Central African Republic: Bangui – Notre-Dame de Bangui Cathedral

Notre-Dame de Bangui Cathedral is the main church in Bangui and the seat of Catholic archdiocese. It was built in 1937 during the colonial times and is a classic of typical French colonial architecture (perhaps the red brick is the only truly African reference, as the red sandy soils are all over Bangui. The cathedral holds significant historical and cultural importance, like being the site of the Coronation Mass of Jean-Bédel Bokassa in 1977 – the military dictator who was the President of the Central African Republic from 1966 to 1976 and then decided to declare himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire, a short-lived monarchy, from 1976 to 1979.