Why go
Arch 22 is the monument you pass under on the way into Banjul, and it is also one of the few spots in the city you can climb for a view. The arch stands 35 metres tall on eight columns astride the Banjul-Serrekunda Highway, built in 1996 to mark the 22 July 1994 military coup that brought Yahya Jammeh to power. It was designed by the Senegalese architect Pierre Goudiaby, who also drew up Banjul International Airport and Dakar’s African Renaissance Monument, and a statue of an “unknown soldier” stands at its base, a rifle strapped to his back, a baby cradled in one hand and the other raised in a victory sign. The arch is familiar even to people who have never been to Banjul: it is printed on the 100-dalasi banknote.
What you will see
Three floors sit inside the columns, reached by lifts and spiral stairs. The first floor is an intermediate level inside the structure; the second is a gallery that opens onto a panoramic view over the city’s rooftops to Banjul’s seaport and the mangroves of the Tanbi Wetland Complex; and the top floor holds a small textile museum. None of it takes long to see, but the climb is the point: Banjul is flat and low-built, so this is one of the only places to get above it.
Visiting
No official source publishes an admission fee or set opening hours for Arch 22, so check with your driver or guide, or at the gate, before planning your visit around a particular time.
Getting there
The arch stands where the Banjul-Serrekunda Highway meets Independence Drive, at the entrance to Banjul from the mainland — every taxi or gelly-gelly heading into the city from the coast strip passes beneath it. It is an easy stop on the way to or from Albert Market and the rest of the old city, and the getting around guide covers fares and routes from the hotel areas. Banjul International Airport is the arrival point for almost every visitor, a drive south on the mainland.
Nearby
The arch marks the start of Independence Drive, so the colonial quarter, the State House and Albert Market are all a short walk ahead on the same axis; the Banjul page covers the rest of the city. Across the water, the King Fahad Mosque is visible from the arch’s viewing gallery on a clear day.