Mombasa Island Mombasa Island Mombasa Island is a coral outcrop located on Kenya's coast on the Indian Ocean, which is connected to the mainland by a causeway. Part of the city of Mombasa is located on the island, including the Old Town. The old town of Mombasa is located at the eastern, seaward end of the island. Kilindini and Port Reitz, the modern deepwater harbour and port separates the island from the Kenyan mainland to the south. The old harbour, which is named Port Tudor and guarded by Fort Jesus, and Tudor Creek separate the island from the northern mainland. Modern residential
Mombasa c. 1300. The Mandhry Mosque, built in 1570, has a minaret that contains a regionally specific ogee arch. This demonstrates that Swahili architecture was an indigenous African product and disproves assertions that non-African Muslims brought stone architecture to the Swahili Coast. During the pre-modern period, Mombasa was an important centre for the trade in spices, gold, and ivory. Its trade links reached as far as the Indian subcontinent and modern-day China and oral historians today can still recall this period of local history. History shows that there were trade links between Mombasa and Cholas of South India. Throughout the early