Monuments to visit Mozambique

The original station has been preserved, and is magnificent. This imposing building, strongly imbued with the French Victorian and Art Nouveau style, all white and pastel green, was built in 1910 to plans by Gustave Eiffel or one of his engineers. Its dome and clock on the elaborate facade seem almost familiar in their curves and style. Under its immense volumes, you can admire ornate ceilings, wrought-iron structures, columns, sculpted doors and Portuguese azulejos. Inside, the museum of the CFM, the Mozambican railroad company, opened its doors in 2015, after a thorough renovation of the building. Here you can admire old locomotives from the ^19th century and trains from all eras. You'll discover (in Portuguese and English) the history of the country's stations and ports, from colonial times to the present day, including the vicissitudes of each era, especially the wars of independence and the civil war. The museum is well documented on the Modern Age of steel and coal, when the train was at the heart of the global industrial revolution. The station is also the venue for many cultural events: readings, temporary exhibitions, concerts, fashion shows, dance, theater... Ask for the program! Nearby, don't miss a visit to the Galeria, another of the city's multicultural venues, due to open in 2020.

The Transmaritimo ferry that linked Maputo to Catembe is no more. The huge bridge that spans the bay of Maputo, between the capital and Catembe, was finally inaugurated in 2018, after four years of work. The idea for this bridge was born in the aftermath of the civil war in the 1990s, but its realization required a lot of consultation, time and heavy financing ($726 million). A Chinese bank, the China Exim-Bank, financed 85% of the project with a 20-year loan. The idea is not only to relieve congestion in the capital city, but also to create pleasant new seaside and residential suburbs right across from the center and the lower town. Catembe has great potential for development: with only 20,000 inhabitants at present, the city could see an urbanization of up to 400,000 people in the coming decade. The bridge is also part of the new South Africa-Mozambique axis that passes through Kosy Bay and Ponta do Ouro, which is designed for tourism development. This means that it is no longer necessary to go through Swaziland or the Johannesburg-Maputo route to enter Mozambique from the south, as it is now possible to drive along the coast from Durban and enter from the southern tip. The brand new 130 km Ponta-Maputo road, which has just been inaugurated, is also the result. The suspension bridge is 680 m long - now the longest in Africa - and 60 m high, while the northern viaduct is about 1 km long and is connected to the new Ponta road.

The "iron house" was designed in 1892 by Gustave Eiffel, who never set foot in Mozambique! It was prefabricated in Belgium before being sent and assembled in Maputo. It was originally intended to be the residence of the governor general of the colony. But the iron and steel structure quickly proved to be unsuitable in a very hot and humid country: unbearable heat, mosquitoes everywhere. The governor never lived there. Today, it houses the offices of the Ministry of Culture.

The Estátua de Samora Machel is an unmistakable bronze sculpture in the center of Independence Square in Maputo, illuminated at night. Designed and built in Pyongyang by North Korea, it was inaugurated in 2011, more than twenty-five years after the word of the first president of independent Mozambique (1933-1986). The 9-meter-high, 4.8-ton bronze has nevertheless been criticized for its lack of resemblance in features to Samora Machel. Another, smaller statue of the military resistance fighter and politician is located at the entrance to the Tunduru Garden.

The Fortaleza Nossa Senhora da Conceição located on the waterfront covers 3,000^m2. Built in 1791 by the Portuguese to defend the colony, it was enlarged in 1851 to its present form (the replica dates from 1940). Built in red sandstone, it is reinforced by ramparts. In its courtyard, there are two frescoes: the prison from the time of Gugunhana and the battle between the king of Gaza and the settlers, and period cannons. Inside, an exhibition of paintings and carved wooden figurines retrace the history of Mozambique. Temporary exhibitions.