Mbanza Kongo, Vestiges of Former Kingdom of Kongo,

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The town of Mbanza Kongo, located on a plateau at an altitude of 570 m, was the political and spiritual capital ofthe Kingdom of Kongo,one ofthe largestconstituted states in SouthernAfrica from the 14th to 19th centuries.The historicalareagrewaroundtheroyalresidence,thecustomary court and the holy tree, as well as the royal funeral places. When the Portuguese arrived in the 15th century they added stone buildings constructed in accordance with European methods to the existing urban conurbation built in local materials. Mbanza Kongo illustrates, more than anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, the profound changes caused by the introduction of Christianity and the arrival of the Portuguese into CentralAfrica.

The town of Mbanza Kongo was the political and spiritual capitaloftheKingdomofKongo,oneofthelargestconstituted states of Southern Africa, which was active from the 14th to the 19th century. Located on a plateau at an altitude of 570 metres,itwasprosperouswhenthePortuguesearrivedinthe 15th century.To the large existing urban conurbation built in local materials, the Portuguese added and substitutedstonebuildingsconstructedinaccordance with European construction methods, including several churches. The town then experienced the expansion of Christianity with the Westernisation of the local elites, without however renouncing its culture. In its built structure and archaeological vestiges,thetownretainsthetracesofitscustomary, colonial and religious past, of which it is an eminent place of remembrance. The Kingdom of Kongo was at the centre of the most important route for the trade inenslaved persons,whoweredeported tothe Americas and the Caribbean. No material vestige attestingtotheslavetradehasbeenfounduptonow.

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IGO 3.0 https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1511