Basilica of Sainte-Anne-du-Congo
Roger Erell · Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo · 1951
Roger Erell’s Sainte-Anne-du-Congo combines a large pointed nave with a highly distinctive green-tiled roof and repeated structural arches. The architecture adapts modern reinforced construction to a monumental Catholic church while giving the building a strongly recognizable regional identity through color, proportion and the open character of its elevations. Construction began during the Second World War and continued into the early 1950s. The completed basilica became one of Brazzaville’s principal landmarks and an important example of modern ecclesiastical architecture in Central Africa.