Discover Mombasa By Night

Highlights

• With thick seaward walls and turrets rising a full 16m above the coral foundation, Fort Jesus has cut an imposing figure above Mombasa’s old town harbor since it was constructed by the Portuguese in the 1590s.
• For centuries afterward, it was the most strategically important building on the East African Coast, changing hands more than a dozen times before its occupation by the British in 1895.
• Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the fort has more or less retained its original plan and incorporates a museum housing an impressive collection of artifacts unearthed during excavations, ranging from Chinese porcelain to Arabic pottery.