Welcome to Monrovia, the capital and largest city of Liberia, set on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast of West Africa. This land was traditionally home to the Vai people. In April 1822 members of the American Colonization Society founded a settlement here for free people of colour from the United States, and the city grew from those beginnings. Today Monrovia is Liberia's economic, financial and cultural centre, and the Freeport of Monrovia is the country's largest port. A third of all Liberians live in its wider metropolitan area. Let us begin on the small island where the first settlers landed.
Providence Island
Photo: Jforest59 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOut in the bay lies Providence Island, once known as Perseverance or Dozoa Island. This is where the American Colonization Society established its first successful settlement of American freedmen in Liberia. Earlier attempts along the Pepper Coast had failed. Then two agents of the society met local chiefs at Cape Mesurado, which the locals called Ducor, and an agreement known as the Ducor Contract was signed, covering the cape and land on this island. The government of Liberia has proposed the island as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Executive Mansion
Photo: my-self · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsAcross the street from the Capitol Building stands the Executive Mansion, the official residence and workplace of Liberia's president. It was built between 1961 and 1964, during the long presidency of William Tubman. The building has witnessed difficult chapters of the nation's history, including the killing of President William Tolbert during the coup of 1980. On 26 July 2006, during Independence Day celebrations, it was destroyed by fire, and it reopened on 14 February 2022.
Ducor Hotel
Photo: Bwoart · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOn Ducor Hill, the highest point of the city, stands the shell of the Ducor Hotel, once a symbol of luxury. Opened in 1960 by the Israeli industrialist Moshe Mayer, it was the first international-class hotel in Liberia and for many years one of the few five-star hotels in all of Africa. Its opening drew guests such as Golda Meir and President Sékou Touré of Guinea. Long abandoned now, it still offers sweeping views over the Atlantic Ocean, the Saint Paul River and the West Point district.
Liberian National Museum
Here is the National Museum of Liberia, created by an act of the national legislature in 1958 under President William Tubman, with help from UNESCO. Its purpose is to collect, preserve and display the objects that tell the story of the country's heritage. The museum has moved more than once. It first opened in the First Executive Mansion on Ashmun Street, and in 1972 it moved to a new building on Providence Island, which was removed just four years later to make way for a bridge.
Temple of Justice
Photo: Mixm4stermich · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsOn Capitol Hill rises the Temple of Justice, a large modern building designed by Tommaso Valle and dedicated in 1965. It houses the Supreme Court of Liberia, along with other courtrooms and legal offices. The building came through the civil wars of 1989 to 2003 with relatively little damage. Look up at its slogan: it once read let justice be done to all men, but the final word was later removed, so that it now simply reads let justice be done to all.
Providence Baptist Church
Photo: Jforest59 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsStep into Providence Baptist Church, the oldest church in Liberia, founded in 1821 by some of Monrovia's earliest settlers. It was here, in 1847, that the Liberian Declaration of Independence was signed. Its building from 1839 is the oldest permanent building in the country and the oldest Baptist church building in Africa. For its part in Liberia's independence, the church is honoured as a national shrine.
Lomakuume
