Lat: 11.860771999781000, Long: -15.579363999648000

Bissau

Guinea-Bissau | Gulf of Guinea | São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea-Bissau

Historical Background and Urbanism

Bissau has been the capital of Guinea-Bissau since 1941, after Bolama and Cacheu had fulfilled this role. Located on the Island of Bissau, the settlement was established in the 16th century, being elevated to town status in 1859 and to city in 1914. In the mid-eighteenth century the construction of Fort Saint Joseph of Bissau, or Fort of Amura, as it is known today, was important for the economic and urban development of the city.
The Portuguese Nuno Tristão and Álvaro Fernandes arrived at the Island of Bissau in 1446. Diogo Gomes sailed into the interior along the River Geba in 1456. Thenceforth trade was established with the natives, although in the territory of Guinea the main commercial activity was centered on Cacheu, located further north on the bank of the River Cacheu. It was as late as the second half of the 17th century that trade and the Portuguese presence became more intense in Bissau, in the face of the French threat, which had always been felt but was then becoming more intense, through the Compagnie de Senegal, which attempted to build a fortress in Bissau. In 1696, during the rule of King Pedro II, the Companhia de Cacheu e Cabo Verde began building a fortified trading post at Bissau, and José Pinheiro da Câmara was appointed captain major of the capitania. This fortress was abandoned and destroyed in 1708 on the orders of King João V. In 1753, King José I reinstated the capitania of Bissau, entrusting it to Nicolau de Pina Araújo, dependent on the captain major of Cacheu. The construction of the present day fortress began in 1766. In 1796, the Our Lady of the Conception almshouse, of the order of the Capuchin friars, stood to the west of the fort; near the almshouse were the wells of Peguetim, which supplied water to the town. The date of the establishment of the almshouse in this place is contemporary with the construction of the present day fortress. The presence of missionaries in Bissau, however, dates back to 1690, when Friar José do Bequo obtained permission from the indigenous king to build this almshouse together with a church. The urban nucleus that developed beside the fort was shielded by two palisades. From the Bastion of Scales, to the northeast, a palisade was built that stretched to the river, bordered by the small Fort of Nosolini. From the Bastion of Puana, to the southwest, another palisade was erected, which was also bordered by the river. The fort and the two palisades formed a triangular perimeter, within which the fountain of Pidjiguiti, the Customs House and the small urban nucleus adjoining the port were protected. Besides the garrison, the fort encompassed the church, the governor’s palace, and the gunpowder magazine. Outside the fortified structure stood the cemetery. The grid pattern of the future city can be envisaged from the 18th century cartographic depictions, where the initially built street plan and districts seem to irradiate from the fortress to the surrounding countryside (map of Bissau by Bernardino Andrade, 1776, Lisbon, AHU). In effect, this original urban nucleus of Bissau (still in existence) has a structure formed by parallel and perpendicular streets, defining rectangular quarters, those the greater dimension being parallel to the coastline. The streets that compose this urban fabric are narrow. The main streets are those that run parallel to the sea, crossed by small transversal streets. The main cross street is that which stretches from the beach to the entrance of the fortress.
The growth of Bissau led to its elevation to town status in 1859 and to its independence from Cacheu, as both districts became autonomous. This corresponded to the development of trade, which led to the construction of a bridge-quay starting from 1889. The year 1913 saw the destruction of the palisade that surrounded the town, opening up new perspectives for urban sprawl. In effect, Bissau was elevated to city status the following year. Matching those expectations, the year 1919 saw the execution of a plan for the New City of Bissau, designed by engineer José Guedes Quinhones, who planned its sprawl beyond the original centre. The year 1948 witnessed the approval by governor Sarmento Rodrigues of the Plano Geral de Urbanização da Cidade de Bissau (General Plan for the Urbanization of the City of Bissau), which encompassed the entire area within the urban perimeter. In this plan, Bissau was divided into functional areas. The industrial area was located near the port area and stood beside the fort. The customs house and capitania also stood by the port, in front of the fortress. The central area was arranged in an orthogonal layout, or a series of orthogonal layouts, with rectangular blocks of various sizes. This area included the main buildings in the city. The cathedral, the town council, the commercial association, the post office, the civil registry, the public finances, the court-house, the police station, and the bank (Banco Nacional Ultramarino) were located along the main avenue, which stretched from the port to the governor’s palace. More peripheral, but still within the central area, stood the stadium, the hospital, with a cemetery nearby, the high school, the market and the slaughterhouse. Around the central area was the commercial district, the business quarter and several social housing estates, each arranged with an orthogonal layout and the size of which varied, depending on the district. These districts were also equipped with other amenities, such as the jail and the asylum, as well as the episcopal palace and the governor’s residence. On the periphery, separated by a wide tree-lined avenue, were the Agricultural Experimental Farm, the Livestock Experimental Farm, the Nature Park and the Indigenous District of Santa Luzia near the swamp of Antula. On the whole, although on a significantly broader scale, Bissau has maintained its original triangular shape. Outside this perimeter stood the suburbs, where there was a later development of many informal districts of Bissau.
Each of the districts that make up Bissau has distinct architectural features and they include several fine examples of Portuguese residential architecture from the mid-twentieth century. However, the city is very dilapidated nowadays. The streets are full of pot-holes and the sidewalks are broken. Apart from rare exceptions, the houses have not been repaired for a long time. Considering that hardly anything has been maintained for decades, the city has resisted reasonably well. The Portuguese symbols have lost their importance, but have not disappeared. The monument to the “Efforts of the Race”, at the top of the wide Avenue Amílcar Cabral, remains in the same place, its Portuguese inscriptions erased, but with a star at the top. Behind it, the presidential palace, the former governor’s palace, is now a ruin, after it was set on fire and sacked; the original chandeliers survived. On another square, the pedestal of the monument to Honório Barreto still stands; the statue was relocated to Cacheu, but the name has been preserved; above it, a medallion with the effigy of Che Guevara was placed. The Hotel 24 de Setembro, former officers mess at Bissau, has seen better days, with the rooms and furniture dating from epoch of the former officers; it preserves the Portuguese style of the 1960s. One of the major traces of Portuguese culture in Bissau in terms of the built heritage, is the city itself. It is a surprisingly big, aligned, well-arranged and hierarchized city. The centre consists of an orthogonal layout of wide avenues and wide, aligned streets. This area is located beside several residential districts, each composed of orthogonal layouts that are connected to each other. Most of the city was built between the 1940s and 1960s. All the elements are present in the right locations. The Avenue Amílcar Cabral runs along a valley and fronts, on one side, the former governor’s palace, located in a topographically dominant area, and on the other, the port. It is still the avenue of the major institutions, of the Pensão da Dona Berta and the church that corresponds to the cathedral. On both sides of the valley where the avenue runs, the streets rise. On the western side, in a secondary avenue, parallel to the main avenue and located at a slightly higher altitude, are the street market, the stadium, the Casa do Benfica, and beside it the former Honório Barreto High School, planed in 1958. East of the main avenue, along the hilltop, runs another avenue, parallel to the first ones, which stretches from the fortress and goes beyond the city along the road that leads to the Hotel 24 de Setembro. There is where the hospital is located, and where the Grande Hotel, destroyed some time ago, stood. The square, whose main point of reference is the Palace of the Government, is surrounded by other important institutions. On one side are the headquarters of the PAIGC and the former building of the Commercial Association; on the other side is the former Ethnographic Museum. From this square, facing west, springs another avenue that organizes Bissau and leads to the Boé Palace Hills – the Assembleia Nacional Popular (Parliament), standing on another elevation. Built with recourse to Chinese investment, it is one of the few new buildings to be constructed in the last decades, except for some hotels. The Parliament is followed by the large Bandim Market, which stretches along the road that leads to the Bissalanca Airport. On 15.02.2008 the foundation stone of the Monument to the Unknown Soldier and the Casa da Amizade (House of Friendship) were laid as a tribute to the Guinean and Portuguese soldiers that fought in the colonial war between 1961 and 1974. The series of amenities in the city, most of which date from the 1940s and 1950s, shows the high investment of the Estado Novo in urbanization, modernization and creation of built structures in the city following its elevation to the capital of the colony in 1941.

Manuel Teixeira

Religious Architecture

Military Architecture

Fort of Saint Joseph (or Fort of Amura)

Urbanism

Diogo Gomes Monument Pedestal

Equipment and Infrastructures

Housing

Government Palace