Kilwa Kivinje Heritage Site

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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. 




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