Kilwa-Kisiwani, Tanzania
Kilwa Kisiwani shows an early African civilisation, that existed long before the Europeans arrived. Today all that remains are crumbling ruins which have been scarcely excavated since the British archeological work from late 1950s to early 1970s. In the early 16th century there were maybe 12,000 inhabitants."The country all round is very luxurious with many trees and gardens of all sorts of vegetables, citrons, lemons, the best sweet oranges that were ever seen" -quote from 16th century Portuguese soldier.
The Great Mosque of Kilwa is a congregational mosque. It was likely founded in the tenth century, but the two major stages of construction date to the eleventh or twelfth and thirteenth century, respectively. It is one of the earliest surviving mosques on the Swahili Coast.
Click on thumbnails to enlarge
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We landed on a long jetty and walked up many steps to this magnificent site . |
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| Nearby was the Palace of Husuni Kubwa, a complete ruin. The majority of the palace was erected in the 14th century by Sultan al-Hasan ibn Sulaiman | ||||
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Neither the Kilwa Chronicle nor any Portuguese accounts describe a building comparable to Husuni Kubwa |
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Unfortunately we did not have a guide that was capable of explaining any of the history to us - why can Silversea not have knowledgeable expedition members helping local guides comments to be understood?
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El 28 de diciembre llegamos a Kilwa-Kisiwani en Tanzania a las 4 de la tarde, todavia con regreso!. Hubiera sido preferible mas tiempo ahi. Era una ciudad grande hace 15 siglos, la 'Mecca' de Africa. Hoy en dia hay las ruinas impresionantes de sus mezquitas y palacio fortificado, todo en un ambiente bucolico.
Onto Zanzibar