Marché de Treichville

Inside Treichville's covered market hall, visitors move through roughly 26,300 square metres of stalls grouped by trade: bolts of wax-print cloth in one section, carved masks and bronzes in another, dried and smoked fish, spices and fresh produce elsewhere, with the aisles spilling out into the surrounding streets under improvised awnings. Known locally as the N'zassa market for its mix of Ivorian, Malian, Senegalese and Burkinabè traders, it is the most atmospheric market in the city, dense with the sounds of vendors calling out prices and the smells of the fish and spice sections. A worthwhile visit takes one to two hours, enough time to work through a few sections and to bargain for cloth or a carved mask rather than rushing past. Photography is straightforward in the produce and cloth aisles, though visitors should ask before photographing individual traders up close, and phones are best kept out of sight when moving between crowded sections rather than held up for photos throughout. Between 08:00 and 11:00 the produce is freshest and the heat still bearable, and this is also when the market is at its most photogenic, with colour and activity at their peak; by early afternoon the heat inside the hall becomes uncomfortable and many stalls quiet down. Sundays are notably calmer and close earlier than the rest of the week, making weekdays the better choice for a full market experience.