The Vasco da Gama Pillar in Malindi, Kenya, was erected by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. It was constructed in 1498 or 1499 during his pioneering maritime expedition from Lisbon to India via the Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499).
Vasco da Gama first visited Malindi from 15 to 24 April 1498. He was well received by the sultan of Malindi and was provided with food, fresh water and a pilot to take the fleet across the Indian Ocean to "Calicut" (modern-day Kozhikode).Felipe Fernández-Armesto, Pathfinders: a Global History of Exploration (2006), pp. 178–180. During the voyage, the explorer was allowed to erect a padrão, which included a cross made of Portuguese limestone bearing the coat of arms of Portugal. Most historians suggest that this happened on his return from India in 1499.J. S. Kirkman (ed.), The Portuguese Period in East Africa by Justus Strandes (Nairobi, 1961), p. 28. However, Gaspar Correia, who was one of the earliest sixteenth-century chroniclers, suggests that the cross was erected at the end of Vasco da Gama's first visit to Malindi. Either way, Corrêa provides the most detailed account of the erection of the padrão.Henry E. J. Stanley (ed.), The Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama, and his viceroyalty. From the Lendas da India of Caspar Correa. Accompanied by Original documents. Translated from the Portuguese with notes and an introduction (Hakluyt Society, First Series, No. 42 (1869), pp. 140–142. Corrêa suggests that the padrão was originally located on a hill "above the port on the left hand side of the city, a place that was very conspicuous, so that the column could be seen from all the sea"Stanley, The Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama, p. 141. ().Lendas Da India Por Gaspar Correa, Vol. 1, p. 66. However, the erection of a Christian cross caused discontent among the Sultan's neighbours, obliging him to take it down and put it in store.
Following Vasco da Gama's expedition to India in 1502–1503, a small Portuguese trading post was established in Malindi. By 1509 the factory was Portugal's only base in the region, under an official described as 'Captain of the Malindi coast'.J. S. Kirkman (ed.), The Portuguese Period in East Africa by Justus Strandes (Nairobi, 1961), p. 115–116. The Sultan of Malindi remained Portugal's chief ally on the East African coast for the rest of the sixteenth century.Eric Axelson, Portuguese in South-East Africa 1488–1600 (C. Struik Ltd. 1973), p. 234.
The padrão, topped by the cross, was set up at its current site on a low rocky promontory overlooking the ocean. Its location was marked on Martin Waldseemüller's world map of 1507.Waldseemuller Map 1507: Sheet 10. When Francis Xavier visited Malindi in 1542 he noted: "The Portuguese have erected near the city a large and very handsome stone cross, which is gilt all over. I cannot express to you what joy I felt in looking at it. It seemed like the might of the Cross appearing victorious in the midst of the dominion of the unbelievers."Henry James Coleridge, The Life and Letters of St Francis Xavier, 2 vols, London (1886), vol. 1, p. 116. ().Cartas y Escritos de San Francisco Javier. Única edición castellana completa según la edición crítica de Monumenta Historica Soc. Iesu (1944–1945). Anotadas por el Padre Félix Zubillaga S. I., 3rd edition (Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1979), p. 88.
The Malindi padrão is the only one of those erected along the African coastline by Portuguese seafarers to have survived in its original settlement.'Vasco da Gama Pillar', National Museums of Kenya website (accessed 19 July 2023). The better-known Cape Cross padrão, for instance, was taken to Germany in the nineteenth century before being returned to Namibia in 2019.Claudia Buchwald, "The Stone Cross from Cape Cross – Three Countries, Three Histories, One Past", Deutsches Historisches Museum – Blog (6 June 2018).Jon Shelton, "Germany returning Stone Cross to Nambia", DW (17 May 2019).
The pillar is depicted on a chart of the Leopard Bank (south of Malindi) drawn in November 1823.'Vasco da Gama cross' (1823). This was drawn by a British Admiralty survey team led by Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen. Owen described the promontory on which the pillar stood as "perfectly flat at the top, and elevated above the sea about twelve feet. If ever there existed an inscription upon this pillar it is totally obliterated, as not a line can now be traced; but the marble cross on its summit exhibits the arms of Portugal in full preservation."W. F. Owen Narrative of voyages to explore the shores of Africa, Arabia, and Madagascar, Vol. 1, (1833) pp. 240–242. The padrão depicted on Owen's chart was similar in appearance to the modern pillar.Vasco da Gama's Cross (28 Nov. 1823). This suggests that the original padrão had been strengthened at some earlier time.
An 1834 United Kingdom Admiralty chart, based on Owen's 1823 version but including his own updates, records the padrão as "Vasco da Gama's Pillar". The same chart notes that at that time there were "no vestiges of the once splendid city of Melinda except this Pillar".Admiralty Chart No 667 Port Melinda (Malindi) detail. The pillar is also noted on an 1867 chart, recording a previously unidentified reef to the south of it.Chart of a coral reef near Malindi, Kenya, identified by HMS Lyra in 1867.
The headland on which the pillar stands eroded over the years and the exposed position of the padrão meant that it became badly weathered. In April 1873, the British naval officer Captain George John Malcolm of HMS Briton surveyed Malindi.Plan of Melinda (Malindi, Kenya), 29 April 1873. This included a depiction of pillar and the headland on which it stood.Detail from "Plan of Melinda" (1873) showing "Vasco de Gama's Pillar". He decided the padrão should be reinforced."Vasco da Gama Pillar", National Museums of Kenya website (accessed 19 July 2023). Vasco da Gama's Pillar is also described briefly in nineteenth-century editions of The Africa Pilot, which provided sailing directions for mariners.UKHO, The Africa pilot. Part III. South and east coasts of Africa from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Guardafui (1889) p. 415.
The pillar was declared a National Monument in 1935 and is currently under the National Museums of Kenya."Vasco da Gama Pillar", National Museums of Kenya website (accessed 19 July 2023). While it has sometimes been claimed that the padrão is made of coral, examinations by the Geological Service of Portugal confirmed that it was limestone with fossils similar to those found in Lisbon limestone beds.Eric Axelson (1961). "Prince Henry the Navigator and the discovery of the sea route to India", The Geographical Journal, 127, pp. 153–154. This is not surprising, since explorers, including Vasco da Gama, typically took along multiple pre-carved padrões to set up on prominent headlands. These served to advertise Portuguese primacy in discovery and demonstrate the explorers' intent to spread Christianity.Eric Axelson (1961). "Prince Henry the Navigator and the discovery of the sea route to India", The Geographical Journal, 127, pp. 149–150.
Kenyan stamps of 1998 celebrated the quincentenary of Vasco da Gama's visit."Anniversary of first visit by Portuguese ships to Malindi", Kenya Posts and Telecommunications Corporation, 1998. The 42s. stamp showcased the pillar in an artist's impression that gave the pillar the traditional thin-column elevation of a padrão rather than the conical form of the reinforced pillar and the squat cross visible today.
The pillar today is Malindi's most visited heritage site. Restoration work carried out since 2020 has included reinforcement of the existing seawalls, repairs to the pillar itself, the construction of a paved access route and the provision of on-site washrooms for visitors."Malindi Vasco Dagama Pillar gets Ksh.59M for facelift", KBC News (23 June 2023).
Access to the pillar is subject to an entry ticket. A single ticket currently covers the four sites under the control of Malindi Museum. These are: the Vasco da Gama Pillar, the Portuguese Chapel, the House of Columns and the Heritage Complex museum."Malindi Museum", National Museums of Kenya website (accessed 19 July 2023).
References