Description of the attraction
The National Museum of Natural History of Mozambique was founded in 1913 as a provincial local history museum. The founder of the museum is the Portuguese captain Alberto Graça, a teacher at the 5 October school, which originally housed a small selection of artifacts telling about the history and nature of Mozambique.
The museum changed its location several times, until in 1932 its collections were transported to the palace, built in the neo-Manueline style, where they are today. The building, built in 1911, originally housed an elementary school. In the 30s of the XX century, the museum was named after Dr. Alvaro de Castro, who was the local governor general, who took care of the preservation of the historical heritage of the inhabitants of Mozambique. After the revolution in the country, which led to the declaration of independence, the museum was renamed the Museum of Natural History of Maputo. In 2013, his centenary was celebrated.
The museum is famous for its collection of stuffed animals - inhabitants of the African savannahs. Here you can see stuffed lions, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, etc. One of the museum's pearls is a stuffed coelacanth - a fish that was considered extinct, but was discovered in 1938 on the coast of South Africa. Since the First World War, a visual aid has been preserved that tells about the development of pregnancy in an elephant. Collections of images, statues, musical instruments and household items of various Mozambican tribes are of great interest.
The Natural History Museum is adjoined by a garden with paintings by the artist Malangatan and statues of dinosaurs. There are also information tables about these prehistoric animals.
