Iringa Boma

Top choice in Southern Highlands


This excellent EU-funded museum is a great new development, as is its small cafe and quality gift shop. Located between Uhuru Park and Neema, Boma is housed in a 1900 German colonial building. Artfully displayed objects, including an embroidered chief's robe, wooden ceremonial stool and gleaming calabashes, are illuminated by extended captions exploring the ancient and colonial history of the area, tribal traditions and clothing and nearby attractions. It's the perfect place to start your explorations of the town.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Southern Highlands attractions

1. Neema Crafts

0.05 MILES

This acclaimed vocational training centre for young deaf and disabled people sits just southeast of the Clock Tower roundabout. Operated by the Anglican…

2. Market Area

0.18 MILES

Iringa’s atmospheric covered market is piled high with fruit and vegetables, plus other wares, including large-weave, locally made baskets.

3. Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery

0.19 MILES

At the eastern edge of town beyond Neema, this tranquil and well-tended cemetery contains the graves of the deceased from both world wars.

4. Maji Maji Uprising Monument

0.21 MILES

Next to the police station, this rugged stone obelisk is a memorial to those who died in the Maji Maji Uprising between 1905 and 1907.

5. Ismaili Mosque

0.28 MILES

This unique German-built mosque is a visual highlight of Iringa's colonial centre – it was built in 1932 but, with its clock tower and arcaded galleries,…

6. Gangilonga Rock

1.68 MILES

This large rock northeast of town is where Chief Mkwawa meditated and where he learned that the Germans were after him. Its name, gangilonga, means …

7. Igeleke Rock Art

2.82 MILES

A large prehistoric frieze, similar in style to the Kondoa rock paintings, located at a spectacular site on the edge of town just west of the Dodoma road…

8. Kalenga Historical Museum

6.83 MILES

This tiny museum in nearby Kalenga – the former Hehe capital – contains the skull, personal effects and other relics of Chief Mkwawa. It was here that he…