World Heritage Identification Number: 599
World Heritage since: 1991
Category: Cultural Heritage
WHE Type: Buildings & Architectural Ensembles
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇲🇿 Mozambique
Continent: Africa
UNESCO World Region: Africa
Map
The Island of Mozambique: A Unique Blend of African and European Architecture
The Island of Mozambique, situated off the northeastern coast of modern-day Mozambique, offers a captivating fusion of African and European architectural styles that has earned it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1991. This small island, nestled between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay within Nampula Province, boasts a rich history dating back to the 1500s when it served as a significant Portuguese trading post en route to India.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The fortified city of Mozambique is located on this island, a former Portuguese trading-post on the route to India. Its remarkable architectural unity is due to the consistent use, since the 16th century, of the same building techniques, building materials (stone or macuti) and decorative principles.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (iv): The town and the fortifications on the Island of Mozambique are an outstanding example of an architecture in which local traditions, Portuguese influences and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Indian and Arab influences are all interwoven.
Criterion (vi): The Island of Mozambique bears important witness to the establishment and development of the Portuguese maritime routes between Western Europe and the Indian sub-continent and thence all of Asia.
Encyclopedia Record: Island of Mozambique
The Island of Mozambique lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay, and is part of Nampula Province. Prior to 1898, it was the capital of colonial Portuguese East Africa.Additional Site Details
Area: 95.7 hectares
Number of Components: 2
(vi) — Directly associated with events or living traditions
Coordinates: -15.03417 , 40.73583
Image
© Rosino, CC BY-SA 2.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
