Mombasa Old Town Portuguese Fort Jesus is located in the Old Town, and is Mombasa's most popular tourist attraction. Mombasa Old Town Old Town is an area of Mombasa, Kenya. Situated on the south-east side of Mombasa Island, the Old Town covers an area of , and is inhabited by a mix of local, Arab, Asian, Portuguese and British settlers. In 1997, the Old Town and Fort Jesus were submitted by the National Museums of Kenya for selection in UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. The area is located to the east of Mombasa Island, adjacent to Tudor Creek. Buildings in the Old
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