The old lower town behind the Marginal keeps Luanda's colonial churches, an iron pavilion and a museum of money, under the pink palaces of the upper town.
The Baixa is Luanda's colonial lower town, squeezed between the bay and the hill. Its churches are among the oldest in sub-Saharan Africa.
The church of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios, the cathedral, dates from 1679. The Igreja da Nazaré of 1664 is lined with tile panels inside.
The Palácio de Ferro, a prefabricated iron pavilion of about 1890 long credited to Eiffel's workshop, is now a diamond museum. Beside the national bank, the underground Museu da Moeda traces Angolan money back to nzimbu shells.
Above, Cidade Alta is the guarded presidential quarter, where photography is forbidden. The restored Cine-Teatro Nacional reopened in October 2026.
Three hours on foot, by day.
Start underground with shells, coins and notes.
The white twin-towered church on its square.
The ochre iron pavilion and its diamonds.
Tile panels in a church of 1664.
Finish at the reopened national theatre.
The Baixa lies right behind the Marginal; start by taxi and walk.
Museums keep weekday hours and can close without notice; churches open for services.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons and Pexels under their licences, and our own.
