Swahili architecture is a term used to designate a whole range of diverse building traditions practiced or once practiced along the eastern and southeastern coasts of Africa. Rather than simple derivatives of Islamic architecture from the Arabic world, Swahili stone architecture is a distinct local product as a result of evolving social and religious traditions, environmental changes, and urban development. [1]
What is today seen as typically Swahili architecture is still very visible in the thriving urban centers of Mombasa, Lamu and Malindi in Kenya and Songo Mnara, Kilwa Kisiwani, and Zanzibar in Tanzania. The distribution of Swahili architecture and towns provides important clues about trade relationships among different regions and societal systems. [2] Exotic ornament and design elements also connect the architecture of the Swahili coast to other Islamic port cities. Many of the classic mansions and palaces of the Swahili coast belonged to wealthy merchants and landowners, who played a key role in the mercantile economy of the Swahili coast. Swahili architecture exhibits a range of innovations, influences, and diverse forms. History interlocks and overlaps, resulting in densely layered structures that cannot be broken down into distinct stylistic parts. Many spectacular ruins of the so-called golden age of Swahili architecture may still be observed near the southern Kenyan port of Malindi in the ruins of Gedi (the lost city of Gede/Gedi). [3]
Along the coast of East Africa, one can find many stone monuments built by the Swahili, including houses, pillar tombs, and mosques. The materiality of local corallimestone marks the signature building language of Swahili architecture and provides a functional response towards both human needs and the physical environment. [4] [5] Other raw materials, including coral rag and mangrove poles are commonly used to elaborate stone buildings. The decorative designs on the building façade are influenced from a mix of cultures from mainland Africa and inspiration from Arabia and Indian immigrants. Various designs on roofs and windows serve to protect buildings from dramatic monsoon seasons.
The most distinguished local features of Swahili architecture is Swahili doors . The designs and motifs of doorframes can be categorized into two types. Rectangular frames represent an older Swahili style with straight lintels, while arched lintels were more prevalent in the later nineteenth century. The center of the lintel often carries a carved Arabic inscription, such as a quote from the Quran or information of the householder. Therefore, doors usually serve as an important indicator to enhance and signify the social status of the householder.
On the urban level, Swahili towns are organized through sections called mitaa, divided by city walls. In Swahili, mitaa are imaginary and symbolic districts with which local inhabitants associate their social identities. Each mitaa is centralized around a mosque. The social status of each mitaa can be reflected through the types of buildings and activities revealed through archeological excavations.
Within the internal structure, a typical Swahili house is designed around a self-contained central courtyard. Privacy of domestic life is valued, as the owners’ living space is separated from the public space. An inner porch is oriented towards a blank wall that blocks the view of the inner courtyard. Courtyards also actively cool down the building internally. [6]
Lamu is the oldest living town on eastern coast of Kenya and one of the best well-preserved archeological sites of Swahili architecture. It is the headquarters of Lamu County and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Once a trading center of East Africa, Lamu is ethnically diverse, with a majority population of Muslims. [5] The well-known former Swahili city states in the Lamu archipelago are Lamu, Sheila, Patte, Manda and Siyu. [7]
The town of Lamu and houses are oriented to the north, facing the Kaaba in Mecca. This orientation is a result of religion, since the founders and most inhabitants of Lamu were Muslims. Lamu Town is divided into mitaa include Mkomani, Langoni, Gardeni, Kashmiri and Bombay. [7]
The mosques in Lamu look very much like houses, as they have no distinguishable features like minarets or domes. [7] The architectural composition of a mosque in Lamu includes the Musalla, the Mihrab, the Mimbar. One of the most significant mosques in Lamu is Riyadha Mosque, built in 1990 by Habib Salih. It hosts the biggest Mawlid in Lamu, the celebration of the birthday of Prophet Mohamed.
Locating on the south side of Pate Island near Lamu and dating from the mid-8th century AD, Shanga is an ancient Swahili settlement built of mud and thatch. The Swahili community in Shanga continued to thrive there for 600 years until their disappearance in the early 15th century. The original settlement, established around a depression in the sand-dunes set back 150m from the sea, was a central enclosure around a well. The well remained the same location over time. An early timber mosque was built upon the central enclosure, serving as a communal gathering space. Stone building was introduced in the early to mid-tenth century, through using a technology that cuts porites coral from the sea bed. [8] The new stone mosque can accommodate the majority of male adult population at prayer. Around the Mosque are the first stone tombs, built of faced coral and plaster.
According to archeologist Mark Horton, "all the surviving stone houses at Shanga are of a single storey with walls of coral rag and lime between 0.38 m and 0.45 m thick. Walls lie in a shallow foundation trench never deeper than 0.4 m." [9] Excavated archeological artifacts indicate the specialization of textile working, weaving, and leather working. The town of Shanga is organized in mitaa (or deme, in Horton's words), reflecting the classification of social identities. [8]
Old Town Mombasa is a coastal city in southeast Kenya along the Indian Ocean. With various influences from different communities like the Omanis, Arabs, Portuguese and Indians, Mombasa is drastically losing its identity as a Swahili Town. [5] [10]
The traditional Swahili architecture in Mombasa exhibits unique strategies on both building and urban scales, as a response to the challenging climate of monsoon seasons. Important building elements include doorways with arched openings, wooden shutter windows half open for daylight, extending balconies, and barazas (low stone / concrete bench) attached to the main building façade. All the windows and openings are strategically placed to maximize ventilation. Internal courtyards serve to cool down the internal structure. [10]
Most Swahili architecture in Mombasa are built of coral stones, which are readily available along the coast and have a low embodied energy. White washed facades ensure that excessive heat is reflected. [10]
Malindi , an area that includes Malindi Old Town, the Gede (or Gedi) Ruin, the Mambrui site, and some other settlements, is an important site of Swahili architecture in east Kenya. [11] The site of Gedi includes a walled town and its outlying area. [12] Similar to other Swahili towns, all architectures of Malindi, including mosques, a palace, and houses, are constructed in stones. Earth and thatch houses are distributed in open areas in the settlement. [13] Stone “pillar tombs” can be found in Gedi.
The Gedi ruins make up a site consisting of 45 acres (18 hectares) that lies in the primeval Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. [14] It traces its origin in the twelfth century, but was rebuilt with new town walls in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. [15] The town of Gedi is divided by two walls, with an outer wall enclosing 45 acres (18 hectares) and an inner wall enclosing 18 acres (7.3 hectares). Both walls were nine feet high and eighteen inches sick, built stone and coated in plaster. [16] Instead of serving as defensive fortifications, the walls are mainly interpreted as social barriers within the ancient town. Within the inner wall there are two mosques, a palace or Sheikh's house, four large houses, several clustered houses, and four large pillar tombs comprising the urban core. Gedi’s city planning appears to be organized in a grid pattern. [17]
External link about Gedi: https://www.museums.or.ke/gede/
3D model of Gedi site
The stone town of Songo Mnara lies on the Swahili Coast in southern Tanzania. It was occupied from the 14th to 16th centuries as one of the major trade towns on the Indian Ocean. [19] Archaeologists have excavated six mosques, four cemeteries, and two dozen house blocks along with three enclosed open spaces on the island. [13]
See more at Songo Mnara.
3D model of Songo Mnara
Kilwa Kisiwani is a city-state site located along the southern coast of present-day Tanzania. Three key architectural features are the Great Mosque, Palace of Husuni Kubwa, and Husuni Ndogo.
See more at the Great Mosque of Kilwa
3D model of Kilwa Kisiwani
Stone Town of Zanzibar , also known as Mji Mkongwe (Swahili for "old town"), is the old part of Zanzibar City, the main city of Zanzibar, in Tanzania. The town was one of the largest pre-colonial urban cities along the East African coast. The site was occupied from as early as the tenth century by fishermen. By the sixteenth century, it emerged as one of Swahili towns, engaging in agricultural production and long-distance trade. The town grew rapidly during the nineteenth century under the British rule. [5] [20]
Similar to other Swahili towns, Zanzibar is divided into Mitaa that reflect inhabitants’ identities. Each Mitaa shares a standard Islamic plan, with a large mosque in the center with main streets running off in four directions from its vicinity. [21] Local Swahili employed raw materials, including coconut palm founds, coral rag, lime, and mangrove poles, to elaborate multi-storied stone buildings. Plaster decorations and geometric designs can be found on the walls, doors, and entrances of Swahili elite houses. The doors of Zanzibar architecture are distinguished in a sense that they reflect the indigenous Swahili culture and subsequent influences from Arabians, Indians and others. The door is composed of seven basic elements, including a heavy lintel, two massive vertical side posts, and two door panels, forming a consistent contour. [22]
3D Model of Big Hamamni (the biggest Persian baths in Zanzibar)
3D Model of Small Hamamni (the small Persian baths in Zanzibar)
3D Model of Belt El Amani
Mombasa is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is known as "the white and blue city" in Kenya. It is the country's oldest and second-largest city after Nairobi, with a population of about 1,208,333 people according to the 2019 census. Its metropolitan region is the second-largest in the country, and has a population of 3,528,940 people.
Stonetown of Zanzibar, also known as Mji Mkongwe, is the old part of Zanzibar City, the main city of Zanzibar, in Tanzania. The newer portion of the city is known as Ng'ambo, Swahili for 'the other side'. Stone Town is located on the western coast of Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago. Former capital of the Zanzibar Sultanate, and flourishing centre of the spice trade as well as the slave trade in the 19th century, it retained its importance as the main city of Zanzibar during the period of the British protectorate. When Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined each other to form the United Republic of Tanzania, Zanzibar kept a semi-autonomous status, with Stone Town as its local government seat.
Malindi is a town on Malindi Bay at the mouth of the Sabaki River, lying on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya. It is 120 kilometres northeast of Mombasa. The population of Malindi was 119,859 as of the 2019 census. It is the largest urban centre in Kilifi County.
The ruins of Gedi are a historical and archaeological site near the Indian Ocean coast of eastern Kenya. The site is adjacent to the town of Gedi in the Kilifi District and within the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest.
Kilwa Kisiwani is an island, national historic site, and hamlet community located in the township of Kilwa Masoko, the district seat of Kilwa District in the Tanzanian region of Lindi Region in southern Tanzania. Kilwa Kisiwani is the largest of the nine hamlets in the town Kilwa Masoko and is also the least populated hamlet in the township with less than 1,000 residents.
The Swahili people comprise mainly Bantu, Afro-Arab and Comorian ethnic groups inhabiting the Swahili coast, an area encompassing the Zanzibar archipelago and mainland Tanzania's seaboard, littoral Kenya, northern Mozambique, the Comoros Islands, southwestern Somalia and Northwest Madagascar.
Lamu or Lamu Town is a small town on Lamu Island, which in turn is a part of the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya. Situated 341 kilometres (212 mi) by road northeast of Mombasa that ends at Mokowe Jetty, from where the sea channel has to be crossed to reach Lamu Island. It is the headquarters of Lamu County and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Pate (Paté) Island is located in the Indian Ocean close to the northern coast of Kenya, to which it belongs. It is the largest island in the Lamu Archipelago, which lie between the towns of Lamu and Kiunga in the former Coast Province. The island is almost completely surrounded by mangroves.
Gede is a village on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya, lying in Kilifi County, south of Malindi and north of Watamu. The Ruins of Gedi are located there. Although not thought to be mentioned in historic sources, extensive ruins of a former port have been dated to the thirteenth century or earlier, including a tomb with a date corresponding to 1399, until at least the seventeenth century. Later, the port was abandoned and not rediscovered until the 1920s.
Lamu Island is a port, city, and island just off the shore of Kenya in the Indian Ocean approximately 150 miles from Mombasa. It is a part of the East African country of Kenya. Lamu was founded in the 12th century. Lamu is one of the longest-established and best-preserved remaining settlements of the Swahili tradition in east Africa that remains today. The island has continually been inhabited for over seven hundred years, and continues to be an important center in eastern Africa.
Kilifi County was formed in 2010 as a result of a merger of Kilifi District and Malindi District, Kenya. Its capital is Kilifi and its largest town is Malindi. Kilifi county is one of the five counties that make up the Kenyan Coast. The county has a population of 1,453,787 people following the 2019 census which covers an area of 12,245.90 km2 (4,728.17 sq mi).
Swahili culture is the culture of the Swahili people inhabiting the Swahili coast. This littoral area encompasses Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique, as well as the adjacent islands of Zanzibar and Comoros along with some parts of Malawi and the eastern part of Democratic Republic of Congo. They speak Swahili as their native language, which belongs to the Bantu language family. Graham Connah described Swahili culture as at least partially urban, mercantile,and literate.
The Great Mosque of Kilwa is a congregational mosque on the island of Kilwa Kisiwani, in Kilwa Masoko in Kilwa District in Lindi Region of Tanzania. It was likely founded in the tenth century, but the two major stages of construction date to the eleventh or twelfth and thirteenth century, respectively. It is one of the earliest surviving mosques on the Swahili coast and is one of the first mosques built without a courtyard.
The Swahili coast is a coastal area of the Indian Ocean in East Africa inhabited by the Swahili people. It includes Dar es Salaam; Sofala ; Mombasa, Gede, Pate Island, Lamu, and Malindi ; and Kilwa. In addition, several coastal islands are included in the Swahili coast such as Zanzibar and Comoros.
Lamu Fort is a fortress in the town of Lamu in northeastern Kenya. Originally situated on the waterfront, the fort today is located in a central position in the town, about 70 metres (230 ft) from the main jetty on the shore.
Songo Mnara is a historic Swahiili settlement in located on Songo Mnara Island in Pande Mikoma, Kilwa District in Lindi Region of Tanzania. The island is home to a Medieval Swahili stone town. The stone town was occupied from the 14th to 16th centuries. Songo Mnara has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with nearby stone town Kilwa Kisiwani. In total, archaeologists have found six mosques, four cemeteries, and two dozen house blocks along with three enclosed open spaces on the island. Songo Mnara was constructed from rough-coral and mortar. This stonetown was built as one of many trade towns on the Indian Ocean. The site is a registered National Historic Site.
Shanga is an archaeological site located in Pate Island off the Eastern Coast of Africa. The site covers about 15 hectares. Shanga was excavated during an eight-year period in which archaeologists examined Swahili origins. The archaeological evidence in the form of coins, pottery, glass and beads all suggest that a Swahili community inhabited the area during the eighth century. Evidence from the findings also indicates that the site was a Muslim trading community that had networks in Asia.
Maritime archaeology in East Africa spans the range from the horn of Somalia south to Mozambique, and includes the various islands and island chains dotting the map off the coast of Somalia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya. Primary areas along this coast include the Zanzibar, Lamu, and Kilwa Archipelagos. Although East African societies developed nautical capabilities for themselves, most of the maritime artifacts point to external merchants from Mediterranean cultures like Egypt and Greece, Indian and Chinese from South and East Asia in the early stages, to the great European powers during the Ages of Colonization and Imperialism.
Pemba Island is a large coral island off the coast of Tanzania. Inhabited by Bantu settlers from the Tanga coast since 600 AD, the island has a rich trading, agricultural, and religious history that has contributed to the studies of the Swahili Coast trade throughout the Indian Ocean.
Mkia wa Ng'ombe Ruins is protected historic site located inside Micheweni District of Pemba North Region in Tanzania. The settlement was established around the 15th CE and abandoned in the 16th century. There are ruins of a mosque, tombs and some stone buildings. The site is critically endangered to further erosion.
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