Maputo

History

Before the arrival of Europeans, the city was a counter, place of exchange between Arabs and Africans, known under the name of Catembe. In 1502, the Portuguese Antonio de Campo is the first European to see bay of Maputo, but it is the navigator Lourenço Marques who really explored it for the first time in 1544.

The bay is called in the beginning bay of Delagoa because it was the first maritime stopover coming from Goa.

Village living of the traffic of the ivory, sporadically occupied by the Portuguese, it is only in 1876 that it became city under the name of Lourenço-Marks, in homage to the navigator.

In 1898, Lourenço Marques becomes the capital of the Portuguese possessions of East Africa, succeeding the town of Moçambique located more than 1500 km at north. Consequently, the city will develop and be avoided of a rich and majestic colonial inheritance.

Capital of the province of Mozambique starting from 1951, it becomes capital country with its independence in 1975.

In February 1976, LM is renamed Maputo in reference to the Maputa river which is thrown in bay of Delagoa, which is also renamed bay of Maputo.

Tourism

Even if the city is dilapidated after more than 20 years of civil war, it does not preserve of it less one architectural heritage impressing and of long pleasant rectilinear arteries almost all bordered of trees generally of blazing or the acacias.

The amateurs of architecture going to Mozambique will not have to miss visiting the Mozambican capital where they will be able to admire many buildings Art déco of which Railway Club (avenue of September 25th) or the theater Gil Vicente.

The town of Lourenço-Marks was however especially marked by its colonial architecture of which most beautiful vestiges, the central station going back to 1924 (place of the workers) and the house of iron going back to 1892 (Which occurred Samora Machel), were carried out within Gustave Eiffel.

The building of the municipal market (old market Vasco de Gama) and the many old Portuguese villas of the residential districts constitute the other florets of the colonial architecture of Lourenço-Marks.

Finally it is essential to go to the museum natural history, places Travessia-Zambézia, floret of the city at the time Portuguese where under the name of " Alvaro de Castro" it received more than 100.000 visitors per annum. The museum shelters in particular a collection of embryos of elephant in gestation.

Other interesting sites and buildings:

the botanical garden Tunduru (ex-Vasco of Gamma) conceived in 1885 by the English landscape designer Thomas Honney, and the statue of Samora Machel,
the Notre Dame cathedral of the Design (place of Independence),
the town hall finished in 1945 (avenue Ho Chi Minh),
the arts center free-Mozambican (front Samora Machel),
strong Portuguese (street of the Eastern Timor) including/understanding many vestiges of the colonial history of which statues of Antonio Enes and Mouzinho Da Silveira),
the Louis Trichardt Trek Memorial containing the remainders of the explorer Boer (front Josina Machel),
the building of the stations (front of September 25th),
the national library,
the mosques Ismael (building Aga Khan, avenue Ahmed Sékou Touré) and Salazar (street of Mesquita)
the statue of Eduardo Mondlane,
the place of the Heroes with his mausoleum, in the star shape, which collects the mortal remainss of the heroes of the revolution and its mural fresco carried out with the participation of the Mozambican painter Malangatana, recalling the history of the fights anticoloniales of Mozambique,
the Central of Estudos Brasileiro , avenue Karl Marx,
the Naval Club (1913),
the bay of Maputo (ex-bay Delagoa)
museums of the currency, of the Revolution, Chissano, of arts
suburb of Catembe, village of fisherman
the island of Inhaca, in the middle of the bay

After 25 years of civil war, Maputo tries to give in value the architectural beauty of Lourenço Marques to make start again tourism. The city suffers however from a criminality in strong expansion these last years.

Toponymy

Since independence, the streets and avenues were renamed. The list below makes it possible to make the correspondence between the old colonial names of Lourenço Marques (in italic) and the new names of Maputo:

which occurred of the Republic : avenue of September 25th
place Mac-Mahon : place workers
which occurred D. Luis : avenue Samora Machel
place Mouzinho da Silveira : place independence
which occurred Andrade Corvo : avenue Ho Chi Minh
street Alexandre Herculano : street of the Eastern Timor
which occurred Alfonso de Albuquerque : avenue Ahmed Sékou Touré
street Antonio de Oliveira Salazar : street of the mosque (Mesquita)
which occurred Manual of Arriaga : avenue Karl Marx
which occurred Augusto de Castilho : Avenue Vladimir Lénine
which occurred General Machado : Avenue will guerra popular
which occurred 31 of janheiro : avenue Agostinho Neto
which occurred 18 of mayo : avenue of the martyrs of Inhaminga
which occurred Massano de Amorim : avenue Mao Tse Toung
rua of Nevala : street Kwame Nkrumah
gone Vasco de Gama : municipal market
the botanical garden Vasco de Gama : botanical garden Tunduru
museum “Alvaro of Castro” : museum of natural history

Native personalities of Maputo

Armando Sá, footballer
Luís Bernardo Honwana, writer
Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, soldier and politician Portuguese

External bonds

Photographs and charts of Maputo
Arts center free-Mozambican

Simple: Maputo

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