Portuguese is the official language of Mozambique!
Tours and Attractions
You can visit Viator to set up local tours and safaris.
https://www.viator.com/Maputo/d30759
Local Attractions (Admission Tickets may be required)
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception
Big white cathedral officially called Nossa Senhora da Conceição the cathedral (as it is mostly known) was built in the 1930’s – 1940’s by Marcial simões Freitas e costa, who was a deputy director of the railways at the time and worked free of charge.
Town hall was designed and built in the 1940’s by architects Carlos César dos Santos, Franz Keindl and Aranaldo Pacheco Pereira Leite. In front of it, in the Lisbon – style pavement used to be inscribed the words, “Aqui é Portugal”, this is Portugal, the words of president Américo Tomás when he visited Mozambique in 1964.
The Samora Machel Statue is a bronze sculpture located in the center of Praça da Independência. The statue depicts Samora Machel (1933-1986), military, revolutionary, and the first President of Mozambique.
Franco-Mozambican Cultural Center
The French Mozambican cultural center is today one of the busiest cultural centers in town, with lots of cultural events (live music, photo expositions, ect).
Casa de Ferro (The Iron House)
– Iron house: designed by Gustave Eiffel, the building was brought pre-fabricated from Belgium in 1892 and assembled outside what was the town by those days.
One of the most beautiful and green spaces in Maputo. If you do the tour on Saturday you will find it even more interesting as you will see a lot of wedding celebrations going on.
The best market in Maputo – fresh and clean – was built in 1901 by David Carvalho with iron elements imported from Belgium. Come here if you want to get ingredients for a very Mozambican dish.
It is sometimes said to be the most beautiful in the southern Africa. The Maputo central station is on an America magazine list of the most beautiful train stations worldwide as the 3rd most beautiful.
New Orleans in Maputo, that is the feeling most people who have been to New Orleans have when they walk through this street. Called Araujo street before independence, the street started as a residencies street, but because of its location – close to the harbor – it started to become a bit busier with lots of hotels, bars, most of them run down nowadays.
Fortress Nossa Senhora da Conceição or Fortaleza (has it is known) was originally built of wood in 1787. In 1811 the wall towards the sea was erected in stone. A plan of 1851 shows that the whole fortress was now made of stone.
Artists association, school for many Mozambican artists. There is a really nice gallery and ateliers of the artists working there. The artists are always happy to let people see them working on their paintings and sculptures.
Built in 1934 by architect Augusto da Silva Pinto and engineer Alfredo F. Soares in the “português suave” style for Joé dos Santos Rutino who was a photographer and had a stationary shop but more lucratively also held lottery concessions.
Feira de Artesanato, Flores e Gastronomia
Handicraft market with nice restaurants. This is the ideal place to buy souvenirs to take back home. From fridge magnets to capulanas(Sarongs).
Local shopping center
Restaurants
There are plenty of restaurants in Maputo that you can search via google, but here are a few to start you off….