A lagoon city of towers, maquis and music
Abidjan wraps around the Ébrié Lagoon, its business district of Le Plateau rising in glass towers opposite residential Cocody and the busy markets of Treichville and Adjamé. The St Paul's Cathedral, with its striking modernist design, overlooks the water. Evenings are spent in maquis, open-air restaurants serving grilled fish, attiéké and alloco, and the city is a centre of West African music, from coupé-décalé to zouglou. The Banco National Park, a pocket of rainforest, lies within city limits.