Kilwa Kivinje Heritage Site
02:07
Kilwa Kivinje, literally meaning “Kilwa of the
Casuarina trees”, is one among the historic town settlements along the coast of
East Africa. It was one of the 19th C major transit port for the
southern caravan route, serving various coast and hinterland, including what is
today southern Tanzania, northern Mozambique, the whole of Malawi, and northern
Zambia. The site is located at the
northern part of the Kilwa peninsula, about 30 kilometers via new road or 20
kilometers through the old road, north of KilwaMasoko. Their heritage assets
are found at Kilwa Kivinje town, Kisangiugoga area, and Kiwavi respectively.
Similar to other coastal historic town such as
Bagamoyo, Saadani, Pangani, Kilwa Kivinje is reported to have emerged as a port
town out of the lucrative slave and ivory trade that flourished along the coast
of East Africa during the nineteenth century. Furthermore, the growth of
Kilwa Kivinje is connected to the decline of the two formerly prosperous
city-states of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara.
By the 1840s, Kilwa Kivinje was already the most important port and
trading center in the region, having absorbed many of the inhabitants of the
two collapsed city islands
Like other coastal sites, such interaction as
resulted to the introduction of new culture that encompasses Swahili, Arabs,
and European elements. For instance, the German buildings were built in local
construction techniques using coral stones and coral lime mortar, with floors
supported by mangrove beams. The building contained new element of European
architect such as metal beams, the
square wooden beams and the wooden floors - allowing more spacious rooms,
better lighted, better aerated and more open verandas. On the other hand, the
building retained some Swahili elements including flat roofs and merlons which
were used for decorating the roofs, and the uses carved doors.
Most remarkable buildings at KilwaKivinje historic
town are the customs house, the fort and the Boma. On the other hand, various
archaeological material including local and imported potsherds, glass beads,
faunal materials, and metal objects among many others. Of important, these
cultural materials have provided significant information of human activities
before and after the contact with the external world.
0 comments