Somali National Museum

Mogadishu, Somalia

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The Somali National Museum (Matxafka Qaranka Soomaaliya) is Somalia’s main cultural institution, located in Mogadishu, the country’s capital. Originally established in 1933 by Italian colonial authorities in a historic two-story building known as Garesa (built in 1872 as a governor’s residence), it became the National Museum after Somalia’s 1960 independence and was renamed the Garesa Museum in 1985 before closing again in 1991 when the civil war began. During the war, the museum was severely damaged, its entire collection was looted, and staff were displaced, leaving it closed for nearly 30 years. In a major symbol of national recovery, the fully restored building was officially reopened on July 1, 2020, on Somalia’s 60th independence anniversary, with restoration financed by the federal government beginning in 2019. The four-story museum now holds important artifacts including ancient coins, traditional pottery, artwork, weaponry and exhibits on colonial history and the civil war, and it continues to rebuild its collections and host cultural events such as art exhibitions. Its reopening is widely seen as a milestone in reviving Somalia’s cultural heritage and the resilience of its people after decades of conflict.