Malindi Old Town & Portuguese Chapel
Malindi Old Town
The old Swahili quarter, with a pillar-tomb mosque, a Portuguese chapel, and a museum housed in a converted historic building.
Malindi's old town stretches along the coast, its narrow lanes lined with Swahili-style coral stone houses. Highlights include one of East Africa's oldest surviving Christian churches, a Portuguese chapel said to date from Vasco da Gama's time, and 14th- to 15th-century Swahili pillar tombs beside the Friday Mosque. The Malindi Museum, housed in a former colonial-era building, covers the city's history and Vasco da Gama's voyage. The old town can be visited together with the pillar in about 2 hours. The local community is conservative, so dress modestly when entering the mosque area.
Opening hours
Museum about 08:00–18:00; district open all day
Nearby sights
- Vasco da Gama Pillar
- Malindi Marine National Park
- Mambrui Sand Dunes & Beach
- Gede Ruins
- Bio-Ken Snake Farm
- Watamu Marine National Park
- Watamu Beach & Turtle Bay
- Mida Creek