Established | 1955 |
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Location | Place de la Révolution 223 Gitega, Gitega Province, Burundi |
Coordinates | 3°25′06″S 29°54′31″E / 3.418236°S 29.908485°E |
Type | national museum |
The National Museum of Gitega (French: Musée National de Gitega, Kirundi: Iratiro ry'akaranga k'Uburundi) is the national museum of Burundi. It is located in Gitega and was founded under Belgian colonial rule in 1955.[1] The museum is the largest of Burundi's public museums although its collection is displayed in a single room.[2] In 2014 it averaged 20–50 visitors per week.[3]
Founded in 1955, the museum was intended to preserve artefacts from Burundian folk culture which were declining as a result of modernisation and social change. Its collection includes ethnographic and historical objects originating in the country, including artefacts from the court of the Burundian monarchs.[3] The lack of funds has meant that the museum has made few recent acquisitions.[3]
In 2015, a catalogue of the museum's collection was published with the support of the German Embassy in Burundi entitled Le Patrimoine Burundais: le Musée de Gitega.[4]