FR: "Le bâtiment qui abrite la Mairie de l'île de Gorée a été construit en 1787 par la signare Virginie Le Gros. Il fut occupé de 1834 à 1864 par le commandant particulier de l'île et un jardin y fut aménagé en 1855. Lorsque le Palais du gouvernement mitoyen fut achevé en 1864, le chef de service administratif y fut hébergé. En 1885 il fut cédé à la municipalité, créée depuis 1872. En septembre 1940, il fut touché par un obus anglais lors de la « bataille de Dakar » alors que le palais du gouverneur voisin (l'imprimerie nationale à cette époque) était visé. À cette occasion furent détruits des autographes du chevalier de Boufflers ainsi qu'un tableau du peintre Merwart intitulé « Gorée aux approches du crépuscule », alors exposés dans le salon de la mairie."
EN: "The building housing the Gorée Island Town Hall was built in 1787 by Virginie Le Gros. From 1834 to 1864, it was occupied by the island's private commandant, and a garden was laid out in 1855. When the adjoining Palais du Gouvernement was completed in 1864, it became home to the head of the administrative department. In 1885, it was handed over to the municipality, created in 1872. In September 1940, it was hit by a British shell during the "Battle of Dakar", while the neighboring Governor's Palace (the national printing works at the time) was targeted. Autographs by the Chevalier de Boufflers and a painting by the painter Merwart entitled "Gorée aux approches du crépuscule", then on display in the town hall salon, were destroyed.
Source: Plaque
"Gorée Island1 (in French, Île de Gorée; in Portuguese, Ilha de Goreia) is an island in Senegal. It has an area of 17 hectares and is located off the coast, three kilometers off Dakar, the capital. In 1978 it was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco.
For more than three centuries it was the most important slave market for supplying slaves to the United States of America, the Caribbean and Brazil, mainly. The island was invaded by the Portuguese in 1444, under whose flag the first slave house was built in 1536. From then until 1848, when France abolished slavery, the most active base of the slave trade was established on this island. The house built by a Dutchman in 1776, which is still preserved, is now a UNESCO museum".
It has 1800 inhabitants and is accessible by ferry from the Port of Dakar.
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