Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza Memorial

About this place

The Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza Memorial is a memorial complex in Brazzaville honouring the Italian-born French explorer after whom the city is named. It includes a building with tall white columns, a statue about six metres high and a museum holding his tomb and those of his family. It is often called the Brazza Mausoleum. De Brazza died in Dakar on 14 September 1905, and his remains went to France and then to Algiers in 1908. Building began in February 2005, and his remains were brought from Algiers and reburied with those of his wife and four children in a crypt of glass and marble. The memorial opened on 3 October 2006. You see a round building of pale stone ringed by tall white columns, a glass facade behind them and a broad stair rising to the entrance. A wide paved square and gardens with palm trees lie in front. Inside are a large event hall and an exhibition on the explorer's life and journeys. It is about 1 km from the Basilica of Saint Anne in a straight line and about 4.4 km from the city centre. Ask about visiting hours and photo rules at the entrance.