Ancient ruins can be found in Angola. The Cathedral of the Holy Saviour of Congo is one of the notable ones. During the 27-year civil war, which devastated many of these ancient monuments and deterred travelers from making a pilgrimage to the oil-rich country, interest in the country’s pre-colonial and colonial remnants decreased.
According to Ancient Origins, the government began pursuing the Cathedral of the Holy Saviour of Congo’s UNESCO World Heritage status once peace had restored to the nation.
The building was constructed in keeping with traditional Portuguese design. The rectangular structure is similar to several of the cathedrals erected in Portugal throughout the 15th and 16th centuries.
The building’s design combines Gothic and Romanesque elements. The windows in the building, which are reminiscent of old churches in Europe, were one component that endured the conflict. Visitors and onlookers are greeted by a marble plaque commemorating Pope John Paul II’s visit to the cathedral in 1992.
One of the cathedral’s charms is the arched entrance. It is said to rest on a few tombs and crypts belonging to the Kongo Kingdom’s regal family. Red colored stones were used to construct the structure, and they were occasionally bleached.
The cathedral is located in the northern Angolan city of M’Banza Kongo. The city is remote and challenging for first-time tourists to reach because it is located on the edge of the area. It was here that the first Portuguese explorers encountered the Angolans. Northern Angola and a portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s southern region comprised up the kingdom.
The country’s Christian past may be traced back to its ruler, Nzinga a Nkuwu, who became a Christian in 1485. Subsequent successors adopted the Catholic faith and adopted Portuguese names. During the reign of King Joao I, the Europeans began construction on the cathedral in 1491 as a tiny church.
After it was devastated in a battle in 1530, King Afonso I restored it. However, it was destroyed in 1590 by roving eastern invaders. One of the kings decided to repair and reconstruct the structure. The Kongo king Alvaro II requested in the 1590s that the Catholic Church elevate the building to cathedral rank. As a result, it was elevated to the status of oldest Catholic cathedral in sub-Saharan Africa.
The bilateral ties between the Portuguese and the Kingdom of Kongo soured after the King of Portugal took control of the cathedral and resulted in a string of battles. The Kongo ruler was assassinated in the Battle of Mbwila, which saw the kingdom destroyed after a bloody conflict. The Kongo people failed to appoint a ruler for the following 40 years.
Later, when it was pillaged and the cathedral was destroyed in 1676, the kingdom was dealt a fatal blow. It hasn’t had a facelift since then.