The white building
A red roof.
João Sousa — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fabio Vanin — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Harissnassam — CC BY-SA 4.0 · João Sousa — CC BY-SA 3.0
The National Museum of Slavery stands at Morro da Cruz on the coast south of Luanda, telling the history of the slave trade in Angola. It adjoins a small 17th-century chapel where enslaved people were baptised before being put on ships to the Americas. It is a small but deeply moving place of remembrance. The National Institute of Cultural Heritage founded the museum in 1977. It occupies the former property of Álvaro de Carvalho Matoso, one of the largest slave traders on the African coast in the first half of the 18th century. His family kept up the trade until 1836, when a Portuguese decree banned the export of slaves. You see on a hill above the sea a small white building with a red tiled roof and a stair rising to it, and a simple white chapel with a cross. Huge baobab trees and dry sandy ground surround it. Inside are hundreds of objects used in the trade, from shackles and chains to documents. It is about 20 km from central Luanda in a straight line, and Miradouro da Lua about 30 km further south. The subject is harsh, so treat the place with respect. Ask before taking photos inside.
A red roof.
Around the hill.
Shackles and papers.
Morro da Cruz, south of Luanda, Angola
The site belonged to a slave trader, next to a chapel where captives were baptised.
Yes, both lie on the road south of Luanda.