Sights in Bagamoyo
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Bagamoyo Town
With its cobwebbed portals, crumbling German-era colonial buildings and small alleyways where the sounds of children playing echo together with the footsteps of history, Mji Mkongwe (Stone Town) as it's known locally, is well worth a leisurely stroll.
The most interesting area is along Ocean Rd. Here, among other buildings, you'll find the imposing remains of the old German boma (colonial-era administrative offices), built in 1897; a school, which dates to the late 19th century and was the first multiracial school in what is now Tanzania; and Liku House, which served as the German administrative headquarters until the capital was moved to Dar es Salaam. Directly on the be…
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Kaole Ruins
Just south of Bagamoyo time slides several centuries further into the past at the Kaole ruins. At its centre are the remains of a 13th-century mosque, which is one of the oldest in mainland Tanzania and also one of the oldest in East Africa. It was built in the days when the Sultan of Kilwa held sway over coastal trade, and long before Bagamoyo had assumed any significance. Nearby is a second mosque dating to the 15th century, as well as about 22 graves, many of which go back to the same period. Among the graves are several Shirazi pillar-style tombs reminiscent of those at Tongoni, but in somewhat better condition, and a small museum housing Chinese pottery fragments and…
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College of Arts
About 500m south of Bagamoyo along the road to Dar es Salaam is the College of Arts, a renowned theatre and arts college, home of the national dance company and one of the best measure’s of Tanzania’s artistic pulse. When school is in session there are occasional traditional dancing and drumming performances, and it’s possible to arrange drumming or dancing lessons. The annual highlight is the Bagamoyo Arts Festival. For more on the college and arts in Bagamoyo, see the website of the Bagamoyo Friendship Society (www.bagamoyo.com).
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Bagamoyo Living Art & Handicraft Design Centre
The Bagamoyo Living Art & Handicraft Design Centre, just off the main Dar es Salaam road near the entrance to town and the post office, was established with Dutch funding about a decade ago to empower women by training them in business and handicraft design and production, giving them a means to earn their livelihood.
Since its founding, several hundred women have been trained, many of whom have gone on to start their own craft-production groups. There's also a small showroom where you can buy crafts and sometimes watch the craftswomen at work.
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Holy Ghost Catholic Mission Museum
About 2km north of town and reached via a long mango-shaded avenue is the Holy Ghost Catholic Mission, with its excellent museum – one of Bagamoyo’s highlights and an essential stop. In the same compound is the chapel where Livingstone’s body was laid before being taken to Zanzibar Town en route to Westminster Abbey. The mission itself dates from the 1868 establishment of Freedom Village and is the oldest in Tanzania.
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