GEREZA FORT
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A remarkable fort built in coral stone, an address to visit in Kilwa Kisiwani.
The ngalawa (the local boat) will drop you off at the foot of Fort Gereza, the building best seen from the coast and during the crossing. It is strongly advised, and in principle obligatory, to stay close to your guide as it is easy to get lost in the vegetation and the maze of village paths. When you arrive at the site, you are struck by the pretty postcard of the ruins on the beach with the mangrove in the background. The Gereza is a fort built of coral stones, on a roughly square plan. The entrance, made of carved wood, is surmounted by a lintel whose inscriptions in Arabic (less and less legible) would relate the construction of the fort. Thick enclosure walls, unfortunately damaged on the seaward side, surround a courtyard, a well and several rooms, and are flanked by two circular towers in the northeast and southwest corners. The original building is said to have been erected by the Shiraz in the 14th century, improved by the Portuguese in 1505 during their short visit, and then extensively altered by the Omanis, on the orders of the Imam of Muscat, in the 19th century. It is a very important part of the city's architecture, and many of the architectural details of the fort - battlements, loopholes, etc. - bear strong similarities to those of the original buildings. - The name of Gereza comes from the fact that it was built by order of the Imam of Muscat in the 19th century. The name Gereza is said to come from the Portuguese Igreja (church) which later became the Swahili word for prison.
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