Square of Two Names

In the center of the island, the even rectangle of a square remains beside the former governor's residence; two barracks buildings stand along its edges. They were built in eighteen forty-three, and the square itself was then called Savanna. Traders were relocated from here closer to Guet Ndar; the current name, Baya Ndar, means “Ndar public square” in Wolof. The bronze figure in the middle and the buildings at the edges still define its boundaries.

On March twentieth, eighteen eighty-seven, a bronze statue of Louis Faidherbe was unveiled here. The colonial and city administrations organized four days of celebrations, and the former governor of Senegal was still alive. The marble bore the inscription: “To its governor Louis Faidherbe—from a grateful Senegal.”

Faidherbe was a career officer tasked with securing French trade and expanding the territory under control beyond the island. During his two terms as governor, he created forces and institutions, made alliances, and waged wars of conquest. Those attending the ceremony credited him with uniting trading posts and fifteen African possessions into a single colony. The monument was needed to establish this version of events publicly, before the residents of the capital.

The site was chosen very precisely. The open area, formerly called Savanna, lay before the governor's residence, between two barracks built in eighteen forty-three. Traders had been relocated from the square closer to Guet Ndar as early as eighteen sixty-three. After the statue was installed, the former Government Square was given Faidherbe's name. The former governor died two years later, but his surname remained in the very center of the city.

The townspeople used this rectangle in their own way. During the colonial years, every day between five in the evening and dusk, women from different neighborhoods gathered here. They came in groups—mbotays, associations of women of the same age within the same social circle. They put on their finest boubous and jewelry, sometimes arriving in carriages. Their dress displayed the family's prosperity and the woman's own standing: acquaintances, potential suitors, and members of other mbotays saw it. After the end of the working day, employees also changed clothes and went out for a stroll.

This gathering was called Takussanou Ndar—the evening walk of Ndar. The square suited it because roads between northern Lodo and southern Sindone, the island, Guet Ndar, and mainland Sor crossed here. People lingered, exchanged news, met one another, listened to music by the kiosk, and then continued on their way. The military parade ground became a daily urban meeting place.

Today its official name is Baya Ndar: “baya” means public square in Wolof, and Ndar is the name of the city. On posters for the jazz festival and festive processions, it is often accompanied by the explanation “former Faidherbe Square.” Takussanou Ndar is now reenacted as a cultural parade: participants walk across the island and gather here as well, between the two former barracks.