Unfortunately, many of the Rova’s wooden buildings were destroyed by a fire in 1995, just before it was slated to become Madagascar’s first Unesco World Heritage site. Visitors can still get a sense of its opulence, however, thanks to the Scottish artisan missionary James Cameron, who clad the Manjakamiadana (the Queen’s Palace) in stone for Queen Ranavalona II in 1867.
Restoration has been slow, but a trip to the complex with a local guide will allow you to admire what remains of the Queen’s Palace, royal chapel and tombs, and get a sense of Antananarivo’s beginnings. If time allows, stop to admire the view over jacaranda-lined Lake Anosy, with its memorial to those fallen in the First World War, before making a stop at the nearby pink-hued Andafiavaratra Palace, a former prime-ministerial residence that now houses a museum showcasing artefacts saved from the fire.
Thankfully, Madagascar did eventually get its Unesco World Heritage site in the form of the Royal Hill of Ambohimanga, which features royal compounds, sites of key rituals, tombs and a sacred forest. As a site imbued with immense significance for Malagasy cultural identity, it is well worth the 12-mile drive from Antananarivo.
For the art aficionado
The Haute Ville is home not only to former royal palaces, but also to the Madagascar Photography Museum (photo-madagascar.com), widely considered the capital’s best. Surrounded by a charming garden (complete with vibrant frangipani tree), the museum is also an excellent place to take in views of the city, best enjoyed over a cup of coffee from the café.
“In Madagascar, photography has long been the main form of artistic expression,” says Jean Loup Pivin, co-founder of the pioneering contemporary African culture magazine Revue Noire. “And Tana, in particular, has a rich history of photographic practices.”
The museum is testament to this history: inside, informative films chart the rise of the main Malagasy cities and the golden age of photography in the 1930s; some fascinating archive images give a glimpse inside one of the country’s first studios; and an exhibition space hosts local and international photographers.
