This is where the German colonizer came to visit the mwami when he arrived in the country. The royal court was also the centre of an intense cultural and artistic life: poets, singers and dancers enlivened the royal evenings. During the day, Nyanza attracted merchants, breeders and craftsmen. The impressive royal palace of Nyanza, a gigantic dome built only with traditional materials, has been carefully restored to its 19th century condition and turned into a museum. As it was the capital of the Tutsi monarchy, one can guess that the regimes that succeeded each other since independence were hardly willing to invest in this historic city, which did not even have a luxury hotel. But since the genocide, things have changed. The avenues have been paved, the range of hotels has expanded, and the sites to visit have become very attractive. In 2012, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda sentenced to life imprisonment Ildephonse Nizeyimana, a member of Rwanda's pre-1994 military elite, convicted of ordering the execution of Queen Rosalie Gicanda, widow of King Mutara III, and several other Tutsis. The last mwami was Kigeli V, whose birth name was Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa. He ruled Rwanda from 1959 to 1961, when he was overthrown and the Tutsi monarchy was abolished. He died in October 2016 in the United States, where he lived. During his 55 years of exile, he never saw his country again.

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Palais royal de Nyanza. RDB
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