CHWAKA RUINS

These ruins are located 6 km from Kondé, at the end of a 900-metre track towards Tumbe on the road to Myumoni. The archaeological site is signposted from the road and is freely accessible. These ruins are among the best preserved on the whole island of Pemba. Inscriptions dating from the early ^13th century have been found here. But this Swahili Afro-Shirazi village dates back to the ^15th century, erected by Harun Bin Ali, son of Mkame Ndune (Mkame comes from the Persian Makam, the king) of Pujini (located in central-eastern Pemba). The town was quite large, spread over 20 hectares, and included an impressive palace-fortress, reception halls, two mosques, an iron workshop and a harbour in the creek. Today, the walls of the great mosque and the arches of the gates still stand. Excavations have brought to light remains (bowls, pottery) that can be seen at the Stone Town Museum (currently closed, as part of the ancient palace has collapsed) and at the Albert Museum in London. Legend has it that the little mosque called Msikiti Chooko, "the mosque of green grains", was built for Harun's wife, who is said to have asked for seeds to be mixed with the mortar to hold the structure together. Numerous tombs have been discovered behind the mosque, including that of Harun himself, decorated with ceramic tiles.

According to local legend, the Mkame Ndume was a very cruel notable who lived in the area in the ^15th century. His name means the castrator, in reference to his thoughtful habit of mutilating those he didn't like. It seems that the Portuguese killed him. His son's wife had the small mosque(msikiti ya chiroko) built near their home to prevent her husband from having to touch other women on his way to prayer. She had the arms of the mason who had built it cut off, to prevent him from having to build another mosque elsewhere, as her husband rightly wished. On hearing of this cruel deed, members of the mason's tribe, from nearby Tanga, came to Chwaka and massacred everyone, hence the name Ukuta wa Damu given to a nearby spot: the wall of blood.

On the way to Chwaka near the road, you'll see the ruins of an ^18th-century Arab fort, which was the seat of Governor Mazuri during the reign of the Arabs who settled in Mombasa on Pemba, before the final arrival of the Omani sultans on the island in the ^19th century. One of the six tombs bears the name of "Mbarouk bin Khatib al Mazuri" and dates back to 1807.