Fort Jesus

A Portuguese coral-stone fort guarding Mombasa's harbour, laid out in the shape of a human figure.

The fort is roughly square with four bulwarks at its corners, and from the air it is said to look like a person lying on their back with the head toward the sea. It is considered a masterpiece of late Renaissance military design. In 2011 UNESCO made it a World Heritage Site, and it is Mombasa's most visited tourist attraction.

A fort that changed hands

Between 1631 and 1875 the fort was won and lost nine times by the powers fighting over this coast. The Portuguese lost it to Sultan Yusuf ibn al-Hasan of Mombasa in 1631, and recaptured it in 1632. From 1696 to 1698 the Omani Arabs, led by Saif bin Sultan, besieged it for almost three years, and when it fell the Portuguese presence on the coast ended. The Omanis took it again in 1837, and in 1895 the British occupied it and used it as a prison.

Portuguese, Omani and British

The walls are about 18 metres high. The Portuguese built them 15 metres tall, and the Omani Arabs added 3 metres. Portuguese cannons were longer than the British ones, with a range of about 200 metres compared with 300 metres for the British. The Omanis left inscriptions from the Quran on wooden door posts and ceiling beams. Local Swahili people supplied the masonry skills, materials and labour.

From prison to museum

In 1958 the fort became a national museum. James Kirkman then excavated it between 1958 and 1971. Visitors can see Oman House, once the home of the sultan who governed the coast, a Portuguese open cistern for rainwater, and a 76-foot-deep well dug by the Arabs, though the water was too salty for anything but washing.

On the globe

The model shows the square coral-stone fort with its corner bastions beside Mombasa's harbor. Look at the thick walls and the shape of the whole enclosure.