Africa-Press – Angola. At least three UNESCO experts have been working in the city of Mbanza Kongo, in the Zaire province, to assess the current state of conservation of the Kulumbimbi ruins, the old cathedral, in preparation for restoration work in the coming days.
The delegation includes the Deputy Director General of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, Emanuel Caboco, and three French experts.
Speaking on Wednesday, the director of the Regional Museum of the Kingdom of Kongo, Avelino Manzueto, said that the visit follows an agreement to renovating the old Cathedral, which currently shows signs of structural degradation due to the time it was built (1491) by Catholic missionaries.
According to the official, the monument located in the heart of the city of Mbanza Kongo, capital of the province of Zaire, calls for urgent intervention to avoid unpredictable situations.
“Kulumbimbi already has some cracks in its architectural structure. The arrival of French technicians specializing in the management and conservation of historical sites is important to reverse this situation,” he said.
The old Cathedral, or simply Kulumbimbi, is one of the attributes that contributed to the inscription and elevation of the Mbanza Kongo Historic Center to World Heritage status on July 8, 2017.
The French experts’ mission to the city ends next Friday.
Recently, the Angolan government, through a presidential decree, approved a program aimed at renovating the monuments and historic sites of the city of Mbanza Kongo to give them greater dignity and consequently attract more national and international tourists.
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