Day trip to two palaces - a tale of mountain-top kings and a murdering queen!

Ambohimanga is the hill-top palace of King Andriampoinimerina, the first Malagasy king to unite the country, located approximately 24 km northeast of tAntananarivo. The hill and the rova are considered the most significant symbol of the cultural identity of the Merina people and the most important and best-preserved monument of the Merina Kingdom. The walled historic village includes residences and burial sites of several key monarchs. The royal compound is surrounded by a complex system of defensive ditches, stone walls and gateways sealed by stone discs. It remains largely intact and contains the royal tombs, house of King Andrianampoinimerina, summer palace of Queen Ranavalona II, and sites that figured in key royal rituals such as the sacrificial zebu pen, royal bath and main courtyard.

You will hear fascinating stories about the King and his foibles (such as having the swimming pool emptied and refilled every day by 60 virgins)...

Created in 2013, the Museum of Photography of Madagascar has given itself the mission of digitizing the photographs taken in Madagascar between 1860 and 1960 to preserve Malagasy photographic heritage and to promote the ownership by the Malagasy people of their history.

The Museum offers visitors the following spaces:

Screening rooms

Four projection rooms show thematic films, made from photographs taken from the Museum's database. You will find a film on the history of the main Malagasy cities, another on the great characters of the 19th century in Antananarivo, another on the golden age of photography in the 1930s in Madagascar. The films are offered in several languages, depending on the audience present.

Exhibition spaces

A large exhibition hall and the Museum's garden can accommodate temporary exhibitions. A special place is thus dedicated to welcoming contemporary photographers, whether Malagasy or foreign:

The Rova of Antananarivo is a royal palace complex that served as the home of the sovereigns of the Kingdom in the 17th, 18th and the 19th centuries. Located in the city of Antananarivo, the Rova occupies the highest point on Analamanga, the highest of Antananarivo's many hills. The largest building on the site was built for Queen Ranavalona I, between 1839–1841. In 1867 the palace was encased in stone.

A fire on the night of 6 November 1995 damaged all the structures in the Rova complex. The chapel, tombs, and other buildings have since been fully restored. The interior of the Rova remains unfinished and the palace remains closed to the public while the current president of Madagascar creates various new structures in the grounds of the Rova.

Your guide will give you the intriguing tale of Merina history, including that of the cruel queen who threw Christians from the cliff-top rolled in carpets, and is contemporarily known as "the female Caligula!!".