Idea #678 – Visiting the Diola impluvium house in the village of Seleki in Casamance
Séléki is a Senegal village located in Lower Casamance, a short distance from the left bank of the estuary of the Casamance River. Séléki is also the name of a former kingdom and ethnic group in the region that was a hotbed of resistance to French penetration. Several French soldiers were killed during the battle of Séléki on 1 December 1886, including Lieutenant Truche. On May 17, 1906, Djignabo Badji, charismatic leader and responsible for fetishes Seleki – so reputed invulnerable – led the assault against French troops led by Lieutenant Lauqué, he was killed and then enters the legend. The village also intervenes during the civil war of Casamance, as leader of the rebellion… Past the moderately welcoming side of the inhabitants, you can observe discreetly in the village many fetishes, but also a superb example of impluvium house, collective housing typical of Diolas. It is a circular mud building, built with a circle of rooms around a walkway that circumscribes a central water trench, fed by an opening in the thatched roof that allows water to enter the building, which is then stored in an underground tank. The village lives mainly rice growing and opens a little to discovery tourism. The impluvium huts of Bandial Kingdom are part of the UNESCO Tentative List.
Where is it ?
Seleki, Casamance, Sénégal
