Africa-Press – Angola. Some residents of Mbanza Kongo, province of Zaire, said this Tuesday that the new SONANGOL oil tanker, baptized with the name of Kulumbimbi, raises the prestige of this World Cultural Heritage city.
Kulumbimbi was the first Catholic cathedral built in sub-Saharan Africa in 1491 and elevated to cathedral status in 1596 by Jesuit Fathers.
Kulumbimbi was part of the monuments and historic sites that contributed to the inscription of the Historic Center of Mbanza Kongo on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Some citizens of this capital of the province of Zaire expressed their satisfaction with this recognition.
For student Tomás Nzola, attributing the name of Kulumbimbi to the oil tanker contributes to greater dissemination of the material heritage of the Historic Center of Mbanza Kongo, stressing that the feat will arouse the curiosity of many tourists from around the world to visit the city.
“It is to be commended for SONANGOL’s initiative, which we hope is not limited to just assigning names, as the aforementioned historic monument calls for restoration and preservation actions”, he asserted.
Suzana Matondo, member of the Royal Kongo Court (LUMBU), said she felt honoured, as a member of Mbanza Kongo, for whom Kulumbimbi will become better known worldwide.
He said he hoped that the Angolan oil company would also engage in restoration work on these ruins of the former Catholic cathedral, which already had cracks in the walls.
“The name of Kulumbimbi to the oil tanker only makes sense as long as this monument exists. If it collapses, it will lose its essence and importance”, he underlined.
Historian Eduardo Sediangani, in turn, recognized that Kulumbimbi is a rare structure, built of stones and lime, for which he praised all the initiatives aimed at its dissemination and preservation.
He recalled that this temple was visited in 1992 by Pope John Paul II, when the Holy Father was in Angola.
It is said that the ruins of the Kulumbimbi cathedral were considered and classified as historical and cultural heritage on October 30, 1957, during the Portuguese colonial power.
In the area adjacent to the monument is the old cemetery of the Kings of Kongo.
According to some narratives, there is not a single meaning for the term Kulumbimbi, and, for some, the name is derived from: Külu-expelling, crushing and Mbimbi-joining.
There are also those who claim that the term Kulumbimbi is derived from Nkulu (person of long age, older, ancient, ancestor) and Mbimbi (trunk of palm tree, dead person, corpse).
The Historic Center of Mbanza Kongo, capital of the former Kingdom of Kongo, was inscribed on the list of Cultural Heritage of Humanity, on July 8, 2017.
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