Namugongo Namugongo | |
|---|---|
| Uganda Martyrs Shrine, Namugongo | |
 Namugongo Martyrs Shrine (Catholic Basilica) byTusk media (2023) | |
| Nickname: Namugongo | |
  Namugongo Location in Uganda | |
| Coordinates:00°23′43″N32°39′57″E / 0.39528°N 32.66583°E /0.39528; 32.66583 | |
| Country |  Uganda |
| Region | Central Region |
| District | Wakiso District |
| County | Kyaddondo |
| Constituency | Kira Town Council |
| Municipality | Kira, Uganda |
| Elevation | 3,870 ft (1,180 m) |
Namugongo is a township in theCentral Region ofUganda.
Namugongo is inKyaliwajjala Ward, inKira Municipality,Wakiso District, approximately 12 kilometres (7 mi) north-east of Uganda's capitalKampala.[1] The township is bordered byNsasa to the north,Sonde andBukeerere to the east,Bweyogerere to the south-east,Naalya andKireka directly to the south,Kyaliwajjala to the south-west, and centralKira to the west and north-west. The coordinates ofNamugongo are 0°23'43.0"N, 32°39'57.0"E (Latitude:0.395289; Longitude: 32.665835).[2]
On 3 June 1886, 32 young men, pages of the court of KingMwanga II ofBuganda, were burned to death at Namugongo for their refusal to renounce Christianity. They wereAnglican andCatholic. Annually on 3 June, Christians from Uganda and other parts of the world congregate at Namugongo to commemorate the lives and religious beliefs of theUganda Martyrs. Crowds have been estimated in hundreds of thousands in some years.[3] In June 2015, an estimated 2 million people attended the event.[4]
The Uganda Martyrs Shrine Namugongo were first recognised by Joshua Serufusa-Zake (1884–25 June 1985) when he was the Sabaddu of Kira Sub-County. He constructed a structure at the Namugongo site, where it appears shrines were built later for prayer.
His interest in Christianity was enhanced by his father's participation in the wars that brought Christianity to Uganda. His father, Semei Musoke Seruma Katiginya, had earned a name for brevity, "Ngubu" from the wars.
Churches stand in locations where martyrs met their fate, their memory enshrined in the murals and stained glass adorning these sacred spaces. The most prominent shrine is Namugongo, which is located where St. Charles Lwanga and his companions were burned. The Ugandan Christian tradition of honoring martyrs is important because, in doing so, Ugandan Christians honor their pre-Christian heritage of spirituality and ancestry. The martyr's feast happens on June 3, and there are about half a million people who participate in the feast annually, and the day of the feast is a national holiday. Many pilgrims come from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and all over Uganda to take part in the Ugandan Martyr's Feast Day at Namugongo, and many others follow the celebration on national television.[5]
Twenty-two of the Catholicmartyrs were canonized byPope Paul VI on 18 October 1964 and are regarded assaints in the Catholic Church. Abasilica has been built at the spot where the majority of them were burned to death. A church stands at the place where the Anglican martyrs met their death, about 2 miles (3.2 km) further east from theBasilica of the Uganda Martyrs. Documentation is available on 45 martyrs but it is believed that many more believers met their death at the command ofKabakaMwanga II between 1885 and 1887.[6]
Namugongo is the location of theUganda Martyrs' Secondary School, one of Uganda's leading high schools. The mixed boarding school is a partner with the Stephen Shames Foundation, based inBrooklyn,New York, in the instruction ofinformation technology methods and applications to high-school students in Uganda.[7][8]
The following points of interest are found at Namugongo or near its boundaries:
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