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| Kati and Me at the Rova |
Tana was originally a Vazimba town called Analamanga, which means "the blue forest." Its name came from the forests -- which, from a distance are said to have looked blue -- that previously covered the area. Then, in the 16th century, a Merina king conquered the town and renamed it Antananarivo, "the city of thousands," because there were allegedly thousands of warriors protecting it. The city is built on a number of large hills, making it difficult to attack (and difficult to walk!).
Our tour started at the highest point, where the rova (the royal palace) is located. Until the mid-1800s, the Merina kings lived in very modest houses at the rova, but Queen Ranavalona I changed that by building a massive stone palace for herself. Unfortunately, in 2005 the palace was burned to the ground. The Malagasy claim it was a natural event, but other sources suggest arson. The UN has already invested more than $20 million painstakingly reconstructing it with as much of the original stone as possible. Though progress was going well, in 2009 the coup d'etat caused significant problems and work has been halted indefinitely.
The cliffs near the rova, called Ampamarinana -- "the place of hurling" -- had long been used to kill those offending the royal family, but they gained even more infamy under Queen Ranavalona I. Her husband, Radama I, was the first King of Madagascar. In the early 1800s, he united the entire island and developed a great relationship with the British. Under Radama's reign, the British set up a number of schools to train craftsman and teachers. They also built several churches, created a written form of the Malagasy language, and wrote the first English-Malagasy dictionary. Unlike in other parts of the country, Christianity found many converts in the Merina people. When Queen Ranavalona I took the throne, however, she undid much of her husband's good work. Because of her strict traditionalism and brutal actions, she is often referred to as the "Wicked Queen." Most significantly, Queen Ranavalona outlawed Christianity and forced all converts to voluntarily come forward, disavow their new religion, and seek forgiveness for departing from tradition. Those that did not come forward were killed. Many Malagasy Christians were martyred when, after refusing to denounce their religion, they were wrapped in cloth and thrown off the Ampamarinana cliffs alive!
In addition to the rova, we saw the old Palace of Justice -- a Roman-style forum in which the king would administer justice to his subjects -- a few really cool churches, the Presidential Palace, the Central Bank, and all of the other typical governmental icons.
One very interesting facet to the city is that there are rice fields interspersed among the more
traditional aspects of the city. It's these areas where the very poor live and work. In one such area, we stopped in an artisan's market to peruse a bit before heading to the airport. Frustratingly, many of their products were made from rosewood, so we bought little. Madagascar is the only place in the world that you can find rosewood and it's supposed to be protected. It's both illegal to use it and to export it. Nevertheless, rosewood forests are being logged at an alarming rate to satiate foreign desire for the pretty wood. China is the main culprit, as its citizens will pay virtually any sum for furniture made from rosewood. Recently, there were reports of a small bedroom set made entirely from rosewood being sold for several million dollars. The Malagasy government is outwardly opposed to rosewood trafficking, but the general consensus here is that it is the government that sanctions and/or profits from much of the illegal trafficking activities.
As usual, our guides dropped us at the airport unnecessarily early, so we spent a solid two hours waiting for our flight (which was thankfully on time). Next stop, Nosy Be!
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