Praça da Independência ( English: Independence Square) is a public square and focal point of

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. It was built by the Portuguese as Praça Mouzinho de Albuquerque (''Mouzinho de Albuquerque Square'') and was dominated by a statue of Mouzinho de Albuquerque, the former governor-general of

Portuguese Mozambique Portuguese Mozambique () or Portuguese East Africa () were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese overseas province. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a str ...

. The statue of Mouzinho on horseback was inaugurated in 1940. After the independence of Mozambique in 1975 the square was renamed Praça da Independência, and the statue of Mouzinho de Albuquerque was removed to Fortaleza de Nossa Senhora da Conceição and replaced by a statue of

Samora Machel Samora Moisés Machel (29 September 1933 – 19 October 1986) was a Mozambique, Mozambican politician and revolutionary. A Socialism, socialist in the tradition of Marxism–Leninism, he served as the first President of Mozambique from the coun ...

(1933-1986), the first president of Mozambique. The square is now dominated by the much larger Samora Machel Statue, which was built and dedicated in 2011. Praça da Independência is flanked to the north by the

Maputo City Hall Maputo City Hall or Municipal Council Building of Maputo (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Edifício do Conselho Municipal de Maputo'') is the seat of the local government of the capital of Mozambique. The Neoclassicism, neoclassical building ...

and to the east by Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.

Iron House Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's out ...

, designed by

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel ( , ; Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway net ...

for the governor of Mozambique, is located just off the square. Tunduru Gardens, designed in 1885 by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

gardener Thomas Honney, is located one block south of the square.

References

National squares Geography of Maputo Tourist attractions in Maputo {{Mozambique-geo-stub