Mbanza Kongo – Roughly 5,513 citizens, among nationals and foreigners, visited from January to December 2024 the Mbanza Kongo Historic Centre, in the northern Zaire Province, with the authorities recording a reduction of 2,006 visits in relation to the year 2023.
The Mbanza Kongo Historic Centre was elevated to the category of World Heritage on 08 July 2017 by UNESCO.
Speaking Friday to Angop, the director of the Kongo Kings Museum, Avelino Manzueto, explained that from the total of tourists that visited his city in 2024, about 287 of them were foreigners, mainly from Portugal, France, Brazil and the United States of America.
The museum, located in the centre of Mbanza Kongo City, has six thematic halls with various types of artistic pieces and historical artefacts, through which the visitors are taken on a “time trip” into the history of the former Kongo Kingdom and people.
On the occasion, Avelino Manzueto disclosed that there is a project o build a new Kongo Kingdom museum, which has to get contributions from countries that are part of this former empire of central Africa, namely DR Congo, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo.
“This project was drafted long time ago actually; we are just waiting for our Executive to start implementing it”, he explained.
Avelino Manzueto also spoke about the efforts the Angolan Government has been making, through the Culture Ministry and international partners, to recover some of the country’s museum artefacts that disappeared during the armed civil conflict. DMN/JL/jmc
