The Takwa settlement is situated on the south side of

Manda Island Manda is an island of the Lamu Archipelago of Kenya, known for the prosperous 9th century ports of Takwa and Manda town. The island is now linked by ferry to Lamu and is home to Manda Airport, while Manda Toto island lies to its west. The ...

, in the

Lamu District Lamu County is a county of Kenya located along the North Coast of the country and is one of the six Coastal Counties in Kenya. Its capital is the town of Lamu. It borders Tana River County to the southwest, Garissa County to the north, Somali ...

in the coastal province of

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. They are the ruins of a town which was abandoned around the 18th century. The Takwa site can be easily reached from Lamu town. The ruins were first excavated by James Kirkman in 1951. In 1972 the site was cleared again under the supervision of James de Vere Allen, the Curator of the Lamu Museum. Takwa was never a large place. It was founded around 1500, and probably abandoned around 1700. Kirkman thought that it was perhaps a place where holy men or religious people retreated. The Great Mosque at Takwa is relatively well preserved. The other structure of importance is the Pillar Tomb, which has an inscription with the date of 1681–1682. It is reported that when Takwa was abandoned, its inhabitants settled just across the bay at Shela on

Lamu Island Lamu Island is a port, city, and island just off the shore of Kenya in the Indian Ocean approximately 150 miles from Mombasa. It is a part of the East African country of Kenya. Lamu was founded in the 12th Century. Lamu is one of the longest esta ...

. Twice a year the people of Shela come to the Pillar Tomb in Takwa to pray for rain.Martin, 1973, p. 27 The Takwa Ruins were designated a Kenyan National Monument in 1982.

Gallery

Image:TakwaBuilding.jpg, Takwa Ruins-Building Image:TakwaWall.jpg, Takwa Ruins-Wall Image:TakwaArch.jpg, Takwa Ruins-

Mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...

Image:Takwa_Ruins_Wudu_2011.JPG, Takwa Ruins

Wudu Wuḍūʾ ( ar, الوضوء ' ) is the Islamic procedure for cleansing parts of the body, a type of ritual purification, or ablution. The 4 Fardh (Mandatory) acts of ''Wudu'' consists of washing the face, arms, then wiping the head and the feet ...

Image:Takwa_Ruins_Mosque_2011.JPG, Takwa Ruins Mosque wall

References

Bibliography

*Martin, Chryssee MacCasler Perry and Esmond Bradley Martin: ''Quest for the Past. An historical guide to the Lamu Archipelago.'' 1973.

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See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading