Written by Marco Ramerini. Photos by Virgílio Pena da Costa. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. The city of Luanda, the capital of Angola, was founded by the Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais on 25 January 1576. The city was named by the Portuguese as “São Paulo da Assumpção de Loanda”. The Portuguese, in the following years, built three ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. In 1498 the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrived in Mombasa on his route to India. Fort Jesus was built after the Portuguese had become masters of the East African coast for nearly a hundred years. During this time they had as main base an unfortified factory at Malindi. The ...

Written by Marco Ramerini. English text revision by Dietrich Köster. FORT SÃO JORGE DA MINA (ELMINA) The first European-built fort in Ghana was Fort São Jorge da Mina (Elmina), which was built by the Portuguese in 1482 near an African village, with which they traded, called by them Aldeia das Duas Partes. The foundation stone of this castle was laid ...