Mbanza Kongo

Mbanza Kongo
Photo by Luis Filipe Gaspar.

Mbanza Kongo, Vestiges of the Capital of the former Kingdom of Kongo, represents the political and religious centre of a vast African kingdom that was transformed by the arrival of the Portuguese in the late 15th century.

The site (now a town of some 175,000 inhabitants) is located on a plateau. It comprises both archaeological remains of the precolonial period as well as colonial structures – often overlapping each other. The Kingdom of Kongo has strong intangible links with the slave trade and the early conversion of African kings to the Catholic religion (with a Cathedral and Jesuit College in place from the early 17th century).

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Site Info

Full Name
Mbanza Kongo, vestiges of the capital of the former Kingdom of Kongo
Unesco ID
1511
Country
Angola
Inscribed
2017
Type
Cultural
Criteria
3 4
Categories
Archaeological site - Civilizations of Sub-Saharan Africa
Link
By ID

Site History

2017 Inscribed

2016 Incomplete - not examined

Site Links

Unesco Website
Mbanza Kongo, vestiges of the capital of the former Kingdom of Kongo
Related

Extensive website by an archaeologist about oral traditions

In the News

France Promises More Support to Mbanza Kongo World Heritage Site (2018.07.09)

Locations

The site has 1 locations

Mbanza Kongo

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Art and Architecture
Vernacular architecture: : Some dwellings conserve the characteristic traits of the typical 19th-20th century Kongo house (Nzo). Built on rubble foundations, with earthen or brick walls (the brick may be sun-dried or fired); they are long houses with two main rooms under a pitched roof (originally covered with straw). Colonial elements were added (verandas, pillars), and later industrial elements (corrugated metal sheet) replaced the local materials. (AB ev)
Damaged
Destroyed during invasion: by the Portuguese in 1665
History
Located in a Former Capital: Kingdom of Kongo
African Kingdoms: Kingdom of Kongo (1390 - 1914)
Human Activity
Slavery: However, relations between the Kingdom and the Portuguese went sour as a result of the slave trade. Several texts were enacted by sovereigns from the early 16th century onwards to prevent the rise of the slave trade, which was robbing the territory of its vital forces, and condemning it to decline. It has been estimated that between 1600 and 1852, 3 million slaves were transported to Brazil alone from the coasts of Kongo-Angola that is an average of 12,000 slaves per year. it is not even known whether slaves were brought to Mbanza Kongo or whether they were collected elsewhere in the Kingdom. (AB ev)
Religion and Belief
Jesuit Order: The main archaeological site, Tadi dya Bukikwa (“inverted stone” or “that which has not yet revealed its contents” in the Kikongo language), corresponds in all probability to the Jesuit college (AB ev)
Sacred Forests or Groves: Precinct of the Sacred Tree (Yala Nkuwu), in whose shade the sovereigns delivered justice.
Cathedrals: Kulumbimbi is the Cathedral of the Holy Saviour, the first episcopal seat in Africa south of the Equator, and it forms the heart of the identity of the Kingdom of Kongo (AB ev)
Franciscan Order: Franciscan sisters’ complex (school, convent and Church of St. Anthony, built from 1933 onwards).
Legends and Folk Myths: Wiki: a popular legend that began in the 1680s that the king had buried his mother alive because she was not willing to give up an "idol" which she wore around her neck
Timeline
Built in the 13th century: Believed to have been founded in the 13th century (AB ev)
Trivia
Built or owned by Portuguese: colonial period buildings
Visiting conditions
One thousand visitors or fewer: “The current number of visitors, most of whom are local or regional, is low (508 in 2010 at the Museum of the Kings of Kongo, 892 in 2014). (AB ev)
WHS Names
Untranslated Toponyms: The word Mbanza comes from the Kongo Bantu language and means "city" or "town". It was used to name the main urban centers of the Kingdom of Kongo (as also in as in M'banza-Soyo and Mbanza Ngungu) It was also used to refer to the "royal residence" or "palace" of the king.
World Heritage Process
First inscriptions: Angola (2017)
Only WHS in their country
Slow Starters: Angola 1991-2017 : 26 years

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The Plaque

  • metal plaque on wall near Cathedral of the Holy Saviour of Congo remains, missing OUV element - -6.264412726587407, 14.245965108036101