Most of us can easily distinguish a pagoda from a tepee or needle, and a gothic from baroque. American, Asian and especially European architecture is known to everyone who likes to travel, or read, or even just browse beautiful photos on the Internet. Africa is more difficult. Can you remember anything other than Egyptian pyramids, necropolises or patterned Moroccan houses? Meanwhile, the architecture of Africa is diverse, bright and sometimes more like a fantastic film set than buildings built for practical purposes.
Melrose House in Pretoria. Here, in 1902, the Vereeniging Peace Treaty was signed, after which the South African republics of that time became part of Great Britain.
An example of Ndebele architecture in Lesedi, an open-air museum in South Africa.
The entrance to the estate of the South African artist Esther Malanga. The walls are decorated with traditional ndebele painting, which is done only by women. Esther is world-famous for her drawings that adorn buildings around the world.
Each ornament has a certain meaning. Sometimes it indicates the social status of people living in the house, sometimes reports about an upcoming wedding, sometimes the pattern is a prayer or even a protest.
Nubia
Nubia is a historic area in the middle reaches of the Nile, in present-day Egypt and Sudan.
The oldest Nubian settlements are about 8,000 years old and existed at the same time as Jericho.
The walls of traditional Nubian houses are covered with lime and then painted in bright colors and decorated with figured masonry.
But the Nubians, who had to relocate after the construction of Aswan dams, are often left at home white.
Egypt
The site where the Sakakini Palace now stands was donated by Egyptian pasha to one of the main contractors for the construction of the Suez Canal. The contractor had to drain the mosquito swamps so that the Italian company could build a luxury villa in their place.
St. Mark's Cathedral is the residence of the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, completed and opened in 1968. When the building was almost completed, the then Pope, Paul VI, returned to the Egyptians part of the relics of St. Mark stolen from them in 828, which are kept in the cathedral to this day.
In the oasis of Siva was the famous oracle of Amon, so the ancient Egyptians constantly came here for predictions. Now it is mainly tourists who come here to see the ruins of the temple where the fortune-teller lived. According to the legend, Alexander the Great, whom the oracle recognized as a god, also visited this place.
The White Monastery was founded about 2,500 years ago and was famous for St. Schenute, who wanted to gather here one of the greatest libraries in Egypt. His works helped the world to learn about Coptic literature. Later, books from the monastery's collection were scattered all over the world as a result of numerous wars and invasions, and today they can be found, for example, in the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg and the British Library in London.
Gabon
This is what the main building of the Russian Embassy in Libreville looks like. It was built in 1991 according to the project of architect Krasilnikov.
Somalia
This is the central bank of Somalia in the capital, Mogadishu.
Algeria
Hotel "Red Oasis" is located in Timimun, famous for the fact that all the buildings in it are painted in the colors of ochre.
The Ketshva Mosque was founded in 1612, but from 1845 to 1962, during the French rule, it was used as St. Philip's Cathedral.
The Mesoir Mosque was built in 1310. It was restored several times by the Turks, in 1840 the French built a church and then a warehouse at the military hospital. Muslim worship services started to be held here again only after the independence of Algeria.
Ethiopia
The Ethiopian emperors used to roam and live in tents endlessly. But in the XVII century, Fasilades interrupted the tradition by building the first permanent residence in the history of the country, the fortress of Fasil Gebbi.
In addition to the fortress, a royal library was erected at the time of Fasilades.