SEGOU

The capital of the Bambara kingdom. 

Segou is the city where the Bambara Kings used to live. The most well known is Biton Coulibaly.

The city is composed of large, old, square buildings and the streets are bordered by karité trees.  The faded glory of old colonial influence is visible in the large colonial houses, some fallen in disrepair; but fortunately a programme to restore them has been started. The City Hall, the Palace of Justice and the building of the “Office du Niger” are good examples of that.. 

In Segou and its surroundings are some interesting places to visit:

• the (monday) Market (le Marché) is being held in the centre of Segou; a very lively and colourful event. In the morning you can see the pirogues arriving in the port and the donkey carts coming in from the neighbouring villages, carrying people and goods.  At the market fruits and vegetables are sold, just like textiles, bogalans (mud cloths), woven blankets etc.
• a Millet brewery; you can visit a Bobo family who runs a small brewery in their home; they make millet beer in small quantities, that they sell from their premises. There is a millet brewery next to the Catholic church.
• Administrative District; (Quartier Administratif); in this district you can see those beautiful, remarkable colonial houses in the Sudanese style. A lot of these houses are now offices, like that of the Office du Niger. The district has nice wide boulevards, bordered by acacia trees.
• Bogolan Atelier; in an atelier you can watch the process of making the famous bogolans ; it is a very labour intensive process. The cotton is woven into simple plain strips, which are then dyed in a solution, made from the leaves of local trees, mud from the river, tree bark and grinded stone. The cloth is dried. This dyeing and drying is done repeatedly, until the designs has left an very good imprint. The final result is what you see then, hanging in the shops.
• the village of Segoukoro; about 12 kms. outside Ségou. There you can see  the Tomb (tombeau) of Biton Coulibaly and the Mosque ( la Mosquée) of Ba Sounon Sacko (mother of Coulibaly). It is a very  nice little mosque. All buildings is made from the red banco.
• the Dam of Markala (le Barrage de Markala);  constructed to serve as an irrigation project for the whole Niger delta.  The water can be led through the many canals which reach the rice fields. The Office du Niger is responsible for this dam.
• the Pottery Villages like Kalabougou or Samafala; a pirogue can take you to these villages, where you can see how the women make (very large) pots by hand,( no wheels). Once a week these pots are baked in larges fires and then they are ready to be sold.

And last but not least:

• the Festival on the Niger **; every year in January or February the Festival is held at the banks of the river. A wonderful event of Malian music, dance and puppetry and arts. Not to be missed.

          ** see the special page about this Festival on this website.

• the Fesmamas; if you are in Mali around March visit the Festival of Masks and Marionettes (le Fesmamas).  It is held in Kirango, near Markala. Life size puppets (portraying people and animals)  are paraded. You can also see how these figures are made. That is not all; besides these masks and marionettes there are dances, games and singing.