Kampala is the largest and capital city of Uganda at an elevation of 1,190m north of Lake Victoria, 40 km from Entebbe Airport.
Kampala is a modern city with cafes, restaurants, hotels, craft shops, hotels and a vibrant night life.
Kampala obtained the status of the city and was declared the commercial and administrative capital of Uganda upon the country’s attainment of independence in 1962.
History of Kampala
As early as the 11th century, the area that makes modern Kampala was the centre of the interlucustre Kingdom of Buganda. By the 1850’s, it was the centre of trade for Arabs dealing in slaves and ivory.
Kabaka Mutesa I Mukaabya Walugembe, the 30th Kabaka of Buganda, who reigned from 1856 until 1884 used the Kampala area as a hunting ground.
The evolution of Kampala came in 1890 when Captain Fredrick Lugard was sent as an agent of the Imperial British East African Company to govern Uganda on behalf of the British Crown.
Kabaka Daniel Basamula Mwanga son to Kabaka Mutesa I gave Lugard one of the hills known as “Akasozi K’empala” (meaning the hill of Impalas in Luganda) to set up base. Lugard misspelled the name as Kampala.
Today, Gaddafi Mosque stands on the spot where Lugard build his fort and where the British first hosted their flag which signified Uganda as British Colony.
- NAMIREMBE CATHEDRAL
Location:
Distance: 2.39 km (1.49 mi) West of City centre.
Coordinates: 0.3166707, 32.5606656
In 1910, Kabaka Chwa laid a foundation stone for the current Saint Paul’s Cathedral Namirembe which had been designed by Arthur Beresford Pite. Iganga school and Mityana school made the choir stalls. The credence table, and altar were made by Kavirondo boys from Maseno high school in Kenya. The splendid pulpit was designed by boys at King’s College Budo. The Government, in memory of Ugandans who died in the 1914 to 1918 World War I, donated the eagle oak lectern.
Prior to that, the first church building was constructed in 1890 at Kitesa with the architect, Nicodemo Sebwato, using traditional Ganda methods to design an 800-seater building that was opened in 1890 with Bishop Tucker’s first service.
In 1894, strong winds blew off the roof.
Source: The Observer Newspaper November 11, 2015.
- RUBAGA CATHEDRAL
Location:
Distance: 3.49 km (2.17 mi) South West of city centre.
Coordinates: 0.3029165, 32.5515246
In 1914, construction of Rubaga Catholic Cathedral began. It took ten years to construct. The Cathedral was consecrated as St. Mary’s Cathedral on 31 December 1925 with a capacity of 5,000 worshippers.
The spot where Rubaga Cathedral stands was once the palace of Kabaka Muteesa I. His son, Kabaka Mwanga, who later ordered the killing of the Uganda Martyrs donated the Rubaga Hill to the early Catholic missionaries through Bishop Joseph Hirth in 1891.
The building team was led by Brother Cyprian and his foreman, Matayo Bakaluba.
About 2.5 million bricks were used to complete the Cathedral. The bricks were carried on the head and by oxen as there were no cars then.
The Cathedral’s Roman style was adopted from Normandy in France by Brother Gilbert, the main architect. The great altar of Muvule tree was the work of Brother Sylvester and took two years to complete.
The ceiling, made of molded metal sheets was bought in London by Bishop Forbes while the first glass windows were installed by Bishop Edward Michaud who is buried inside the Cathedral. The popular giant Virgin Mary statue overlooking the city of Kampala was brought from Italy. The cathedral’s bells, came from France.
- GADDAFI MOSQUE
Location:
1.5 km West of city centre
Coordinates: 0.3156837, 32.5683206
Gaddafi Mosque is one of the five biggest mosques in Africa. Its interior and exterior can accommodate up to 35,000 worshipers. The mosque sits on 12 acres of land in Old Kampala where the city started when in the 1890s, Frederick Lugard, the chairperson of the Imperial British East Africa Company, built a fort and the first British flag hoisted which signified Uganda as British Colony.
Initial construction of the mosque started in 1972 under the regime of President Idi Amin Dada but was halted in 1976. Later, the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi intervened and ensured its completion and inauguration in 2008. It was named after him.
The Colorful structure with its magnificent features of art was built and designed based on a mixture of cultures of Arab, European and African. Its minaret commands a 360 Degrees view of Kampala City.
Gaddafi Mosque houses the headquarters of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council.
- KIBULI MOSQUE
Location:
1.65 km. Bearing: 122.01° (ESE)
Coordinates: 0.3107056, 32.5956979
Kibuli Mosque on Kubuli hill commands a beautiful view of Kampala. The hill is one of the historical seven major hills of Kampala. It is the centre of the Islamic faith in Uganda. The land was donated by Prince Nuhu Mbogo who built the first mosque in 1892.
- THE BAHA’I TEMPLE
Location:
5.67 km (3.53 mi) North of city centre
Coordinates: 0.3646707, 32.5885606
The Bahá’í Mother Temple of Africa also known as the Mashriqu’l-Adhkar is on Kikaya hill overlooking Kampala city.
It is the only the Bahá’í Temple on the African continent and one of the only nine around the world. The others are in Chile, the USA, Germany, Panama, Samoa, India, Australia and Cambodia.
The Bahá’í faith was introduced in Uganda by English and Iranian followers of the faith in 1951. Six years later, the foundation stone for the current temple was laid with the Bahá’í Intercontinental Conference for Africa held in Kampala to mark the occasion.
The Temple is modelled on a traditional African hut. The dome-like shape symbolises the divine circle, a reflection of heaven on earth and the spirituality of sacred borders. The temple is surrounded by well-maintained gardens that attract people to rest and reflect. Birders are also attracted to the temple because of the many bird species in the garden trees.
The faith has a daily minimum of three mandatory prayers, as written in their holy book of prayer, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas written by the Bahá’í founder Bahá’u’lláh in 1873.
In Kampala, followers go to the temple on Sundays. The temple fills to capacity on special days like the Twin Holy Birthdays, two consecutive days commemorating the birth of Bahá’u’lláh and Báb – the most important figures in the Bahá’í faith.
Birding at Bahá’í
The temple’s natural environment, with its diverse trees and flowers, attracts a wide range of birds, including some common East African species.
The temple grounds are known for their calm and peaceful atmosphere, which is ideal for bird watching and relaxation.
The temple is relatively easy to reach from Kampala city center, making it a convenient location for birding.
Some of the birds at the Temple include:
- White-throated Bee-eater (Merops albicollis)
- Common Bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus)
- Rüppell’s Starling (Lamprotornis purpuroptera)
- Village Weaver (Ploceus cucullatus)
- Hadada Ibis (Bostrychia hagedash)
- Woodland Kingfisher (Halcyon senegalensis)
- Red-chested Sunbird (Cinnyris erythrocercus)
- Bronze Mannikin (Spermestes cucullata)
- Red-cheeked Cordonbleu (Uraeginthus bengalus)
- Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer)
- Red-eyed Dove (Streptopelia semitorquata)
- Ring-necked Dove (Streptopelia capicola)
- Tambourine Dove (Turtur tympanistria)
- African Green-Pigeon (Treron calvus)
- Great Blue Turaco (Corythaeola cristata)
- Eastern Plantain-eater (Crinifer zonurus)
- Ross’s Turaco (Tauraco rossae)
- Black Kite (Milvus migrans)
- Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill (Bycanistes subcylindricus)
- African Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone viridis)
- Pied Crow (Corvus albus)
- Tawny-flanked Prinia (Prinia subflava)
- Scarlet-chested Sunbird (Chalcomitra senegalensis)
- Variable Sunbird (Cinnyris venustus)
- Slender-billed Weaver (Ploceus pelzelni)
- Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
- Western Cattle-Egret (Ardea ibis)
- African Harrier-Hawk (Polyboroides typus)
- Double-toothed Barbet (Pogonornis bidentatus)
- Black-headed Gonolek (Laniarius erythrogaster)
- Olive Sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea)
32.Palmnut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis)
- Brown Parrot (Meyer’s parrot) (Poicephalus meyeri),
Source: ebird
Source: ebird and Snap Uganda
- UGANDA MARTYRS SHRINES IN NAMUGONGO
Location:
Uganda Martyrs Catholic Shrine Basilica:
11.19 km (6.95 mi) North East.
Coordinates: 0.3855807, 32.6517105.
Namugongo Martyrs’ Church of Uganda.
13.27 km (8.24 mi) North East
Coordinates: 0.3975216, 32.6659799
Every year on June 3, thousands of Christians from Uganda and other countries congregate at Namugongo to commemorate the lives and religious beliefs of the Uganda Martyrs.
On 3 June, 1886, 32 young men who were pages of the court of Kabaka Mwanga II of Buganda, were burned to death at Namugongo for their refusal to renounce Christianity.
The Martyrs were both Anglican and Catholic. Twenty two of the Catholic martyrs were canonized by Pope Paul VI on 18 October 1964 and are saints in the Catholic Church.
A Catholic Basilica was built at the spot where the majority of them were burned to death while an Anglican Cathedral was also constructed at the place where the Anglican martyrs met their death.
Though documentation is available on 45 martyrs, it is believed that many more believers met their death at the command of Kabaka Mwanga II between 1885 and 1887.