KILWA KISIWANI RUINS OF EAST AFRICA’S GREATEST EMPIRE
the little village on the island in Kilwa Kisiwani is home to barely 1200 people, a tenth of the number who used to sleep behind its walls. Today, most survive on fishing and tourism. Kilwa was once a thriving port city straddling the trade lanes of East Africa, rich from the trade in Great Zimbabwe's gold.
The city claimed dominion over most of the islands and city-states of the east coast, all the way to Mombasa in modern day Kenya, across to Madagascar, and south to Mozambique.
The town’s wealth was legendary, mentioned by Milton in Paradise Lost; its beauty was praised by the Arab explorer Ibn Battuta and the Portuguese captain
