Fort Jesus is the Portuguese-built fortress on Mombasa Island in Kenya that became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fort was constructed between 1593 and 1596 to protect the Old Port of Mombasa and secure Portugal’s position on the Swahili Coast.
Italian architect Giovanni Battista Cairati designed the fort in the late Renaissance military style. Its broad, angular plan was engineered to withstand cannon fire, and from above its outline is sometimes said to resemble a person lying down. Local Swahili workers and building traditions also contributed to the structure’s masonry and materials.
Fort Jesus changed hands repeatedly as Portuguese, Omani, and British powers contested Mombasa. Oman captured it after a long siege in 1698, and Britain later used it as a prison. It became a museum in 1958 before UNESCO listed it in 2011. Cape Coast Castle is another major African fort, but it is in Ghana and is associated with a different colonial history.