Travel Guide Nkamba « Nouvelle Jerusalem »

Nkamba, "Jerusalem", is the Mecca of Kimbanguism. The city is located 225 km from Kinshasa via Mbanza-Ngungu and Ngombe Matadi. It is built on a small hill with huts laid out according to a schematic plan, including dwellings, surveillance posts, the mausoleum of the prophet Simon Kimbangu, the Temple with its two towers, the Hôtel des Rois and the village of Ngombe-Kinsuka to the west. This "holy" city, both historical and touristic, has its origins in the ancient Kongo Kingdom, but became famous with the development of Kimbanguism.Nkamba is separated from the village of Ngombe Kinsuka by a valley through which flows a small river whose source, a few hundred metres upstream, forms a kind of natural pool. A place of pilgrimage for the thousands of pilgrims who flock here every year, the river's water is said to have healing properties for the sick. Simon Kimbangu was born here on September 12, 1887, twelve years after the arrival of Protestant missionaries in the Independent State of Congo. He prophesied the liberation of the black man. Condemned to death in Mbanza-Ngungu by the colonial authorities, he was transferred and imprisoned in Lubumbashi, where he died in 1951. His remains were repatriated to Nkamba.The great temple, inaugurated in 1985, is an imposing edifice almost 20 metres high, framing the main entrance with its seven Gothic-style arched vaults. Its capacity is 37,000!