Senegal: Dakar – House of Slaves on Goree Island

The House of Slaves is a museum where slaves were held before being shipped to the Americas. The ground floor has multiple rooms, rather small, where slaves were held after being separated by gender and age. In the center of the house is the infamous Door of No Return – an open doorway to an outside platform facing the Atlantic Ocean. While many in Senegal claim that over 1.5 million slaves passed through this house, it has been proven both historically inaccurate and impossible. The total number of slaves that passed through Goree Island was around 26k and most were shipped from the beach; while the major departure points were Saint-Louis in the north and Gambia in the South. Nevertheless, Goree Island and the House of Slaves is viewed worldwide as one of the main memorials dedicated to the recognition of the horrors of slavery.
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