Visit Fort Jesus Mombasa

browse (1 / 5)

Fort Jesus, located on the edge of a coral ridge overlooking the entrance to the Old Port of Mombasa, was built by the Portuguese in 1593 to protect their trade route to India and their interests in East Africa. Designed by an Italian architect, Jao Batisto Cairato, the Fort was his last assignment as Chief Architect for Portuguese possessions in the East, and was the 'crown jewel' of his career; the Fort is today hailed as one of the best examples of 16th century Portuguese military architecture.

Throughout its tumultuous history, the Fort changed hands no less than nine times between the Portuguese and Omani Arabs. When Kenya was made a British Colony, the British government used the Fort as a prison; this was the case until 1958, when the government declared Fort Jesus an historical monument under the National Parks,

Today Fort Jesus is a popular destination for foreign and local tourists, researchers, and students. It receives hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, who come to see not only the impressive fort, but the small exhibit gallery which holds finds from archaeological excavations along the coast, and within the Fort itself, as well as a new exhibit depicting the culture and history of the coast and its peoples. Also on display are artifacts excavated from the underwater shipwreck of the San Antonio de Tana which sank in Mombasa harbour off Fort Jesus in 1697.