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| BAKEL |
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Situated 560 kms from Saint-Louis,
Bakel is a small Sarakholé town nestling
in a small basin ; it stands on guard so to
speak for both the medium valley and the road
to the Sudan.
In the colonization's days Bakel was a major
stage in the French establishment inland the
Black continent. The town was also an important
economic centre whose prosperity was due to
the trade of gum and groundnut.
In the middle of the town there is a hillock
called the "montagne centrale"
(i.e. : central mountain) ; a house stands
there where René
Caillié (the French explorer) is
said to have stayed on his way to Tumbuctu.
The former fortress of Bakel is now the "Préfecture"
; its architecture is due to Faidherbe
who wished to have it built in order to serve
as the main place of resistance to El
Hadj Omar. |
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