National Museum of Butare & Genocide Memorial Rwanda Tour
(The National Museum of Butare was built in the early 1990s and is a good source of information on the cultural history of Rwanda and the region. During the 1994 genocide, the Museum in Butare remained untouched. Butare is 135 Kilometers from Kigali and a visit can be organized as a day excursion out of Kigali. This museum can be visited on the way to Nyungwe National Park.)

National Museum of Butare & Genocide Memorial Rwanda Tour

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National Museum of Butare and Genocide Memorial Rwanda Tour takes you to visit National Museum of Butare located 1.5 kilometers from the centre of the town of Butare in Rwanda. Butare town is close to the Burundi border in the south east of Rwanda.

Butare lies 135 km from Kigali and a visit can be organized as a day pleasure trip out of Kigali. A visit Butare is also possible on the way to Nyungwe National Park. Nyabisindu (Nyanza) is situated 45 km from Butare and 90 km from Kigali.

Butare is a small town with a relaxed atmosphere, best known as the educational centre of Rwanda, having been the location for the first ever secondary school in 1928 and, since 1963, has been the site of Rwanda's national university. Butare is mostly known for its historical museums including the national museum of Rwanda and King's Palace museum.

National Museum of Butare was built in the early 1990s, the National Museum of Rwanda is a good source of information on the cultural history of the country and the region and it is over and over again referred to as the best museum in East Africa.

During the 1994 genocide, The National Museum located in Butare remained safe and sound. It was donated in 1990s by the Belgium government with some ethnic collection, the design and concept all realized in co-operation with the Royal Museum for Central Africa of Tervuren, Belgium.

The diverse sections of the museum demonstrate a wide-ranging assemblage of indistinguishable pictures, traditional artifacts and objects, tools and different craft products.

Ethnographic objects are clustered together according to the theme giving quality information on the daily life. Traditional ceramics and basketry are still manufactured and belong to the finest handicrafts of the region.

The Museum is the fine and reflects well the time spirit at the end of 19th Century when the East-African Kingdoms came in contact with the first Europeans.

The wealthy insights about Rwanda's traditional life and culture and the successive historical developments contribute to a better understanding of African history and should be compelled for everybody who's interested in Africa.

Butare (now: HUYE ) was the largest and most significant city in Rwanda prior to 1965, when it lost out to the more centrally located Kigali, 135 km to its north, as the capital of independent Rwanda.

Butare National Museum is the most prominent tourist attraction in Butare and houses conceivably the finest ethnographic collected works in East Africa. Absorbing displays of traditional artifacts light up by eye-catching assortment of turn-of-the-century monochrome photographs, providing insight not only into pre-colonial lifestyles, but also into the successive development of Rwanda as a contemporary African state.

Butare's cultural significance is further underlined by a visit to nearby Nyabisindu, formerly known as Nyanza, the traditional seat of Rwanda's feudal kingdom.

The impressive Royal Palace at Nyanza, a colossal domed construction made completely with traditional materials, has been thoroughly restored to its 19th century state and is now safeguarded as a museum.

National Museum of Butare and Genocide Memorial Rwanda Tour

Notes

* Price includes; Transport and Guiding. Food and entrance fees are additional/ Extra

National Museum of Butare and Genocide Memorial Tour Rwanda Itinerary

Butare is a regional centre with good hotels and lots of craft. Close at hand are historical attractions, geographical attractions, and the picturesque headwaters of the Nile River.

Butare is a stepping off point to visit Murambi memorial a boarding school where 30,000 – 50,000 Tutsis were gathered in the promise of safety only to be butchered en masse. The French Army constructed netball courts on the mass graves to assist in disguising the massacre.

This is another life changing experience. There are preserved skeletons of victims and sometimes skulls showing fractures and damage. Witnessing such a moving memorial sounds macabre, however many people comment that they feel much more empathy for the victims in this context than when impersonal representations of violence such as photos and films just elicit sadness and other negative emotion.

Don’t be put off, those who have visited these memorials find it to be life changing in a positive way. En route to Butare, visit Gitarama, the original seat of the Rwandan Republic. Just outside Butare is the National Museum which is a must see and another opportunity to view national dancing, one of the highlights of an intriguing nation.

Also close at hand is Nyanza, the King’s historical dwelling which has is a museum of history and culture. Trained staff interpret the historical and cultural relevance of lifestyle, government and colonial impact on the country. If time permits, Kamegeri Rock is en route and has historical/ cultural significance in the Country’s history.

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