Mogadishu

Mogadishu is the capital of Somalia, on the Indian Ocean coast in the south of the country. Somalis also call it Xamar, the name of its oldest quarter. Lido Beach on the northern shore fills with families and swimmers on Friday afternoons.

Mogadishu was a trading port of the East African coast from the 10th century, sending gold, cloth and incense across the Indian Ocean to Arabia, Persia and India. The Sultanate of Mogadishu minted its own coins in the 13th century, and Ibn Battuta, the traveler from Tangier, visited in 1331 and wrote about its merchants and the generosity of its sultan. The Ajuran Sultanate ruled the city and its trade in the 16th century. It came under the Sultanate of Zanzibar in the 19th century and became the capital of Italian Somaliland in the early 20th century. Mogadishu became the capital of independent Somalia in 1960.

The Port of Mogadishu handles the imports of the south of the country and ships bananas, livestock and fish. Somali Beverage Industries bottles Coca-Cola and other soft drinks at a plant in the city. Fishing boats land tuna, kingfish and lobster at the harbor of the old quarter.

Bakaara Market, in the center of the city, sells food, clothes, electronics and spices in rows of stalls and small shops. The Mosque of Fakr ad-Din, built of coral stone and marble in the 13th century, is among the oldest mosques of East Africa. The Arba'a Rukun Mosque, from the same century, keeps its four-pillared plan in the old quarter of Xamar Weyne. The narrow lanes of Xamar Weyne preserve coral-stone houses with carved wooden doors from the time of the sultans.