HERITAGE RECORD · 1295

Fort Jesus, Mombasa

蒙巴萨的耶稣堡

The official record, selection criteria and sourced cultural context.

World Heritage record

The Fort, built by the Portuguese in 1593-1596 to the designs of Giovanni Battista Cairati to protect the port of Mombasa, is one of the most outstanding and well preserved examples of 16th Portuguese military fortification and a landmark in the history of this type of construction. The Fort's layout and form reflected the Renaissance ideal that perfect proportions and geometric harmony are to be found in the human body. The property covers an area of 2.36 hectares and includes the fort's moat and immediate surroundings.

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Selection criteria

This property was inscribed under the following World Heritage Convention criteria.

(ii)An important interchange of human values in architecture, technology, arts, town planning or landscape design.

(iv)An outstanding example of a building, ensemble or landscape illustrating a significant stage in human history.

Cultural archive

Record lead

UNESCO record lead

Brief synthesis Built by the Portuguese at the end of the 16th century at the southern edge of the town of Mombasa, over a spur of coral rock, and kept under their control for one century, Fort Jesus, Mombasa, bears testimony to the first successful attempt by Western civilization to rule the Indian ocean trade routes,

Source-led archive lead · 86%Source ↗

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