NAMUGONGO CATHOLIC SHRINE

Some ten kilometers northeast of the city center, this shrine is one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world. The basilica's mahogany altar is said to have been erected on the exact spot where Charles Lwanga, one of Uganda's twenty-two Catholic martyrs (canonized in 1964), was burned alive on June 3, 1886. Twelve other Roman Catholics and thirteen Anglicans were also burnt to death on the Namugongo site on the same day. The shrine was officially opened on June 3, 1975. In addition to the basilica, the complex includes an artificial lake - over which footbridges and a kiosk with an altar have been designed - and a martyrs' path, depicting the martyrs' martyrdom. The celebration of "Uganda Martyrs' Day" on June 3 sees several million pilgrims from Uganda, neighbouring countries and even other continents flock to and around the holy site. If you drive along the main roads in the days leading up to the commemoration, you'll see throngs of pilgrims, sometimes barefoot and carrying crosses, converging on Kampala. For your information, a second Catholic shrine exists in Munyonyo, not far from Lake Victoria, on the spot where the kabaka Mwanga II decided to put to death Catholics, most of them pages in his court, on May 25 1886 (two co-religionists were executed here the following day, while the others began their fatal march to their place of execution, Namugongo).