Assinie

Located at 80 km of Abidjan, Assinie is a seaside resort of Ivory Coast, at the edge of the Golfe of Guinea. Two vacation villages were built there: Assinie (at the origin the Club the Mediterranean) and Assouindé (Valtur). It constituted the place of turning of the film bronzed the with Thierry Lhermitte, Josiane Balasko, Michel Blanc, Gerard Jugnot, Michel Creton, Christian Clavier, Marie-Anne Chazel, Dominique Lavanant, Luis Rego, etc

One distinguishes the zone from Assinie, in the west bordered only by the ocean and accessible by the road, of Assinie Mafia in the east which constitutes a peninsula between ocean and lagoon. Long of about fifteen kilometers this very narrow peninsula (of 100m with 1000m) is occupied by luxurious villas and paillottes. The access is done only by boats private or dugouts crossing the lagoon.

The mouth of the lagoon which marks the end of the peninsula of Assinie Mafia is called the Master key.

This zone is the privileged destination of Abidjanais easy for the week end. They are delivered to it to the water skiing, fishing, surfing… or idleness.

It should be noted that the champion of surfing WWA Jean Yves Paul began the practice of his sport here.

History

Assinie (formerly Issiny) was the first counter of the eburnean coast, although there does not remain today any more any vestige of this time. Since 1637, five missionary S Capuchins, come from Saint-Malo, settle there. The climate and the diseases make them set out again quickly, one two dies there.

King d' Issiny

In 1687, the Knight of Amon and the sior Ducasse there unload, interested by the traffic of the Or, and are received at the court of king Zéna. They will bring back to France the young “prince” Aniaba and his/her cousin Banga , which will be introduced to the king de France Louis XIV and will convert with the Catholicisme (Aniaba will be baptized by Bossuet, bishop of Meaux). They will become officers in the Regiment of the King, before turning over to Issiny towards 1700. Aniaba would have become in 1704 to advise of king de Quita (current Togo), being made call Hannibal.

The development

The extremely durable first of the Coast, Strong Joinville (there was briefly Strong Saint-Louis, of 1701 with 1704), is built in 1843, after the unloading of the lieutenant Fleuriot de Langle , which was to lead to a treaty between France and king de Krinjabo, Amon Ndoufou . At that time, the skirmishes with the English were frequent, and the means did not make it possible to exploit the interior of the country.

An inspection of the strengthened counter of Assinie in 1850 mentions “ the order and the cleanliness which reign in its enclosure ”, the existence of a bastion in masonry (on four envisaged in the beginning), the presence of a small artillery equivalent to that of Large-Bassam. “ the personnel of the counter, composed of 40 individuals, including 5 Europeans, 20 soldiers and 15 paddlers, laptots and others, is in a satisfactory sanitary situation ”. The men “ are in a country more pleasant to live Large-Bassam, where the resources are larger because of the more frequent relations with the natural ones and are withdrawn so that produced the tiring one, for the body and the sight, an existence almost continuously last on a sand driving and blanchâtre, torrefied by a sun devouring ”. (Document of the Public records of Ivory Coast, File 1 EE 1 (10) .

However, the French penetration is thwarted by the epidemics of yellow fever (in 1857, out of 50 Europeans of the three counters of Assinie, of Large-Bassam and of Dabou, 32 die and 10 must be repatriated) and by British competition (Victor Régis, pioneer French commercial on this coast since 1843, must close shop with the beginning of the year 1860).

It is Arthur Verdier which will really emphasize the first the area of Assinie, starting from 1870. The first Caféier S are planted in 1881, at the same time as starts the culture of the Cacao. The exploitation of wood begins in 1885. In 1887, the French government agrees to send a Instituteur to Assinie (the school will be then transferred to Elima).

Decline

Still third port of the Ivory Coast in 1907, Assinie will lose thereafter any strategic importance and commercial, with the Large-Bassam profit of , then Bingerville and finally Port-Bouët/Abidjan. In 1942, a Raz-de-marée carries the “France district” of Assinie.

Historical sources

Large Bassam and counters of the coast , Georges Courrèges, ED. The Durable Moment, 1987. (G. Courrèges was director of the cultural Institute of the Embassy of France).
the Ivory Coast by the texts , Guy Cangah and Simon-Pierre Ekanza, the New African Editions, 1978

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