Monday, February 13, 2012

 This is the road we drove on to get to the Diosso Museum.  Diosso is the ancient capital of the kingdom of Loango, 25 km north of Pointe-Noire.  We had to travel a ways out of the city and pay a toll to get onto the paved road that leads to this road.  The museum has an historical display (posters, pottery, masks, objects, sculptures and statutes ) of the area, including much information about the slave traffic which occurred in this area, which borders the Atlantic Ocean. 
This is the museum, which used to be a royal palace.  As far as anyone we have talked to knows, it is the only museum in Pointe Noire.  It was built in 1952, by Moe Poaty III, who was the king of the Loango Kingdom.  According to the museum information, it was in 1946 that Congo Brazzaville (the capitol city) took the form it is now.  There is still a chief living in the area of the museum, and he has cultural influence, but not any political power.

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