Rova of Antananarivo

The Rova of Antananarivo, the former royal palace of Madagascar, located at an altitude of 1462 m at the highest point of the capital, the Analamanga ( " blue forest " ) and is thus almost 200 m above the neighborhoods of the city.

The word rova is in Malagasy for a fortified enclosure or a fenced area, but is usually used for the description of a royal palace.

History

The Rova of Antananarivo was until the late 19th century, was occupied by the French as Madagascar, the headquarters of the kings of Madagascar and royal power center of the whole island of Madagascar. The beginnings of the palace area go back to 1610, when King Andrianjaka built the first palace here. At that time, the royal seat of Antananarivo was only one center of several kingdoms in Madagascar. With the conquest of Antananarivo by Andrianampoinimerina began in 1794 the political unification of Madagascar.

The grounds of the Rova of Antananarivo ( state 1995) consisted of six palaces from different eras, the royal tombs and an evangelical church. The historic buildings were constructed 1610-1896, which always had to give way to new and larger palaces older structures. The site area took over the centuries constantly and now includes 13,000 m².

The Rova fell on 6 November 1995 in a fire, only stone buildings such as the Palace of the Queen and the Temple remained at least get out of the facade. The reconstruction withdrew due to limited financial resources, a long way off, but could be completed to the celebration of 50 years of independence in Madagascar in June 2010, mainly.