Elevations File Set of Mosque X (6), Kua Ruins

The Kua ruins are all that remains of a medieval Swahili town located on Juani Island in the Mafia Archipelago. The ruins offer insights into an island civilization that saw Portuguese and Omani control as well as independence, enslavement, and eventual abandonment. Indicators of early settlement and trade—including Islamic and Chinese ceramics dating to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and currency from mainland Tanzania—have been found in the ruins, while Portuguese accounts from the sixteenth century note the great wealth of the Kua people. The Zamani Project spatially documented some of the Kua ruins in 2018.

The Zamani Project seeks to increase awareness and knowledge of tangible cultural heritage in Africa and internationally by creating metrically accurate digital representations of historical sites. Digital spatial data of cultural heritage sites can be used for research and education, for restoration and conservation and as a record for future generations. The Zamani Project operates as a non-profit organisation within the University of Cape Town.


This text has been adapted from the World Monuments Fund website (https://www.wmf.org/project/kua-ruins).

All work was carried out as part of the Kua Conservation Project:
Co-Directors: Stephane Pradines (ISMC-AKU) and Pierre Blanchard (WMF).
Partner institutions: Aga Khan University (AKU); Tanzanian Antiquities; World Monument Fund (WMF), Zamani Project (University of Cape Town)

Then Zamani Project contributed accurate 3D models and maps of the site and structures to the Kua Conservation Program.