Pilgrimage Sites in Uganda

Namugongo, a suburb north-east of Kampala, is the site of the largest annual Catholic pilgrimage in Africa. Here, on 3 June 1886, Kabaka Mwanga II of Buganda ordered the burning alive of young Christian pages who refused to renounce their faith — among them St. Charles Lwanga, chief of the royal pages. The 22 Catholic martyrs were canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1964, the first black saints of sub-Saharan Africa.

The Basilica of the Uganda Martyrs, a circular church inspired by the traditional African hut, stands on the execution site, its altar marking the very spot where St. Charles Lwanga died. Each 3 June, Martyrs' Day — a national public holiday — draws hundreds of thousands to over a million pilgrims to Namugongo, with the Catholic Mass at the basilica and Anglican services at the neighbouring Church of Uganda shrine, which commemorates the 23 Anglican converts who died alongside the Catholics.