Sikasso
Mali · Africa
About Sikasso
Sikasso is a city in the south of Mali and the capital of the Sikasso Cercle and the Sikasso Region. It is Mali's second largest city with 225,753 residents in the 2009 census. The city is a large centre and trading port, and was the capital of the Kénédougou Kingdom between 1877 and 1898.
Sikasso was a small village until 1870, when Tieba Traoré, whose mother came from Sikasso, became Faama of the Kénédougou Kingdom and moved the capital there. He established his palace on the sacred Mamelon hill (now home to a water tower) and constructed a massive tata to defend against the attacks of both the Malinke conqueror Samori Ture and the French colonial army. This made Sikasso the largest fortified city ever built in west Africa.
Sikasso withstood a 15-month siege by Ture from 1887 to 1888 before the French, allies of Kenedougou against Ture, relieved the city. Despite this, the French contrived a diplomatic crisis to attack in 1898. They began a major artillery barrage against the tata on April 15th 1898, and the city fell on May 1st amid furious house-to-house fighting. Babemba Traore, Tieba's brother who had succeeded him as faama, ordered...
Sikasso travel guide
Understand
A small village until 1876 when it became the capital of the Kénédougou Kingdom. The city remained the capital until 1898 when it became a part of the French colonial empire. In contrast to other parts of Mali, Sikasso has a subtropical climate and there are plenty of fruit and vegetables throughout the year.
Getting there
The city is 100 km (62 mi) from Mali's border to Cote d'Ivoire and 45 km (28 mi) to Burkina Faso. There are plenty of bus services from the capital Bamako, with SONEF being the largest operator.
See
Some touristic sites:
1 The Mamelon. Located in the city centre, the Mamelon hill used to be a sacred site of the Kénédougou kings. Now a French colonial tower stand at the site. (updated Mar 2019) Missiricoro caves. (updated Mar 2019) Farako falls. (updated Mar 2019)
Sleep
1 Hôtel Du Cinquantenaire de Sikasso, ☏ +223 21 62 29 55. One of few high end hotels in Sikasso, includes a restaurant and pool. (updated Oct 2018) 2 Hotel Tata, ☏ +223 21620411.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia, travel guide fromWikivoyage (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.