Gorée Island is a small island just south of the Peninsula of the City of Cape Verde, Senegal which was one of the earliest European colonial settlements in Western Africa.
The road to the Dakar port commands a rather stony volcanic rock of only 88 acres (36 ha). Gorée has almost coexisted with the island in its small, picturesque town.
The first visit of Portuguese sailors to the Island of Gorée (1444) was made under Dinís Dias and then occupied. The Lebu indigenous people on the island were subsequently displaced and fortresses built.
From 1536 to 1848 when slavery was abolished, the city became active in the Atlantic slave trade. Historians are discussing whether Goree was a major warehouse for trade or just one of many centers that brought Africans to the Americas.
Gorée changed hands several times but was controlled by France from 1817 until the independence of Senegal in 1960. Gorée took part in the French elections in 1848 and in the first half of the twentieth century it was represented in the French parliament. With the rise of St. Louis and Dakar on the mainland, the importance of the island was steadily decreasing.
A 20 minute ferry trip from Dakar takes us to the top destination of Dakar and the city's most frequented place. But without visiting GOREE ISLAND, your Dakar wouldn't be complete. GOREE ISLAND is the biggest hit of all places to visit to get to know the history of Senegal.
The highlight of GOREE visits is the SLAVE HOUSE DOOR-OF-NO-RETURN, which never shipped to return 15 to 20 million African slaves.
A detailed tour with a knowledgeable guide gives you a clear idea of what a great tourist attraction this place is like
You can't visit Goree and stay the same as you were before. So visit it!
