Iron House in the capital of Mozambique
The Casa de Ferro is a historic prefabricated iron building located in central Maputo. Originally built in Belgium, the structure was bought by the Portuguese colonial government and reassembled in 1892 in Maputo. It was intended to serve as the residence of the Governor of the District of Lourenço Marques.
However, the building was never inhabited and has instead served as the seat of a variety of local and national institutions throughout its existence. The house is currently open to the public as a fine example of the experimental use of iron in European colonial architecture in the final decades of the 19th century. The Casa de Ferro is sometimes erroneously described as the work of renowned architect Gustave Eiffel. However, claims that the building was designed by Eiffel are unfounded.
In 1966 the Casa de Ferro structure was moved from its original location on Avenida 5 de Outubro to its present placement at the intersection of Avenida Samora Machel and Rua Enrique de Sousa, adjacent to the Tunduru Gardens. In 1974, after the end of the Mozambican War of Independence, the Casa de Ferro served as the provisional seat of the FRELIMO political party, and later as the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture's Arquivo do Património Cultural (ARPAC). Restored in 2014, the building is still used to this day to house offices of the Ministry of Culture.
Aerial photo/video service/inquiries: info@traveltonamibia.com
No comments:
Post a Comment