City

Libreville, where a church tower was framed with a liner’s yards

At Sainte-Marie, the 1900 tower’s metal frame is formed from four sail-carrying yards of a liner. Nearby, Saint-Michel’s carved pillars bear Bible scenes; the arts museum began in an ethnomusicologist’s villa.

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White museum building with two visible storeys, an open upper balcony with a glass railing, broad steps, palms and a museum sign along the roof edge. — The exhibition building of the national museum of arts and traditions, as photographed in April 2019.Photograph: MNATGABON

At a glance

Saint-Michel carved supports: L’Union describes 13 porch columns and 18 side pillars bearing biblical scenes.[3]
Sainte-Marie tower: Its 1900 metal frame is formed from four sail-carrying spars of the liner Ville-de-Maceió.[1]
Museum in Pepper’s villa: The small museum opened there on 4 October 1963.[5]

A place worth remembering

Sainte-Marie: a tower framed with ship spars

The Archdiocese dates the Sainte-Marie church to 1864 and its tower to 1900. The tower’s metal frame, it says, was formed from the four large yards—spars that carried sails—of the liner Ville-de-Maceió.[1][2]

Saint-Michel de Nkembo: biblical scenes in carved wood

L’Union describes the church’s carved supports as a biblical program: Old Testament scenes appear on the porch’s double row of columns, while New Testament scenes run along the left side. The paper names Gabonese carver Zéphyrin Lendogno for the pillars and credits Juan Ndong with the main altar.[3][4]

The arts museum: an exhibition that began in a villa

Ethnomusicologist Herbert Pepper housed the small museum in his villa at Montagne-Sainte; Perrois dates the opening there to 4 October 1963. A 1970 account shows how one object was presented: a harp appeared with a photograph of its player and an audio recording of the instrument.[5][6]

Good to know

A few clear answers before you explore.

What supports the Sainte-Marie tower?

The archdiocese says the 1900 metal framework was formed from the four large yards of the liner Ville-de-Maceió; yards are a ship’s sail-carrying spars.[1]

Which artists did L’Union credit at Saint-Michel?

The paper names Zéphyrin Lendogno for the carved pillars and credits Juan Ndong with the main altar.[3]

Where did Libreville’s museum collection begin?

Perrois records that Herbert Pepper housed the small collection in his villa at Montagne-Sainte, where the museum opened in 1963.[5]

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