Mbanza Kongo, Vestiges of the Capital of the former Kingdom of Kongo

What UNESCO says

UNESCO describes the property in these words: “The town of Mbanza Kongo, located on a plateau at an altitude of 570 m, was the political and spiritual capital of the Kingdom of Kongo, one of the largest constituted states in Southern Africa from the 14th to 19th centuries. The historical area grew around the royal residence, the customary court and the holy tree, as well as the royal funeral places. When the Portuguese arrived in the 15th century they added stone buildings constructed in accordance with European methods to the existing urban conurbation built in local materials. Mbanza Kongo illustrates, more than anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, the profound changes caused by the introduction of Christianity and the arrival of the Portuguese into Central Africa.”[1]

Inscribed

2017[1]

Category

Cultural[1]

Criteria

iii, iv[1]

Area

89.29 hectares[1]

Background

Mbanza Kongo is the capital of Zaire Province in north-western Angola, with 221,141 people in 2024. Wikipedia says it was the capital of the Kingdom of Kongo from its foundation, before the Portuguese arrived in 1483, until the kingdom was abolished in 1915, apart from a short abandonment during civil wars in the 17th century.[2] The article says it was founded by the first manikongo, Lukeni, at a junction of major trade routes. The Portuguese first reached it in 1491, after ten days' travel from the mouth of the Congo River.[2] It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2017.[2]

The city today, as described in 2024

Macao Magazine wrote in 2024 that the Kingdom of Kongo, founded in the late 14th century, reached from what is now Gabon through the two Congos into northern Angola. Diogo Cão arrived in 1482; King Nzinga a Nkuwu converted and was baptised João I, and his successor Afonso made Christianity the official religion.[3]

Mbanza Kongo was centred on a royal residence and cemetery, a customary court and a sacred tree, and Portuguese-style buildings and churches were added. The Cathedral of the Holy Saviour of Congo, with adobe and stone walls, fuses African and European styles, and excavations have revealed the royal residence's foundations. The Nkulumbimbi Shrine is a large rock engraved with symbols.[3]

In January 2024 the president approved an agreement of around US$120 million for restoration and conservation, and a new airport 34 kilometres away was expected in 2025.[3]