Maputo Central Railway Station 📖 Wikipedia

The first train station in Maputo, then known as Lourenço Marques, was a modest structure, built of wood and zinc, and inaugurated in 1895 by Paul Kruger, President of the South African Republic.^[2][3] Plans to construct the current railway station to replace the old one date to 1904.^[4][3] The Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique, the parastatal agency overseeing railroads in Portuguese Mozambique, included $400,000 in its 1906–1907 budget for the construction of the new station.^[4] Initial plans were drawn up by Mario Veiga, a government architect at the Directorate of Public Works, along with Alfredo Augusto Lisboa de Lima.^[4][5] In 1906, the plans and budget were sent to the Portuguese government in Lisbon for approval.^[4] There, significant changes to the plans were made.^[4] The final plans provided for a building that was architecturally inspired by the main terminus in Johannesburg, but with a grander facade.^[4][3]

The long, metal railway platform was inaugurated on 19 March 1907.^[5] Construction on the building began in 1908.^[2][3][5] The project was overseen by the firm Buccellato e Irmão.^[5] The station, built of baked brick and cement, was inaugurated on 19 March 1910, in an informal ceremony attended by Governor-General Alfredo Augusto Freire de Andrade.^[2][3][4] Work on the building resumed in 1913 with a project to adorn the facade and construct the dome.^[5] The dome, often incorrectly attributed to Gustave Eiffel,^{[2][3][4][6][7]} was in fact designed by José Ferreira da Costa^[3][4][5] and executed by the Johannesburg-based firm Evans & Plows.^[5] Production of the dome was carried out in South Africa, rather than the United Kingdom, due to difficulties imposed by the ongoing World War I.^[3] The ornamentation of the building's facade was designed and executed by Pietro Buffa Buccellato.^[5] The second phase of construction, including the new dome and facade, was completed in 1916.^[2][3][4][5]

On 19 March 2010, the Central Railway Station celebrated its centenary in a ceremony attended by President Armando Guebuza.^[4] A plaque commemorating the event was unveiled, and the president launched a campaign called "O Património É Nosso" (Portuguese: "Heritage is ours") to promote the preservation of historic public assets.^[4] In 2015, a railway museum was opened at the station.^[2] It contains exhibits and food venues, and holds music and other events.^[2]

The initial plans for Central Railway Station were inspired by the old central terminus in Johannesburg, South Africa, but intended the station to have a grander facade.^[3][4][5] The building is of the Neoclassical Beaux-Arts style.^[5] At the center of the station's grand facade is a tall arch, topped by the largest of the building's three domes.^[3][4][5] The copper-clad semispherical central dome brings the building's height to 51 m.^[3][5] The building's two symmetrical sides connect the main tower to the building's domed side towers through second-story verandas.^[5] Ornamental features including marble pillars and wrought iron latticework contribute to its aesthetic appearance.^[6][7]

In 2009, the American magazine Newsweek ranked the station #7 on a list of "Train stations as grand as the journey", and described it as "probably" the most beautiful terminus in Africa.^[2][6] In 2011, the American travel magazine Travel + Leisure included it in a list of the world's 14 most beautiful railway stations.^[2][3][7] In 2016, the station was included on a list of nine beautiful train stations published by The Financial Express, an Indian business newspaper.^[2]

The Maputo Railway Station appears in the 2006 German-American film Blood Diamond.^[8]

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  Postcard, c. 1920.
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  Maputo Central Station, 2005.
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  Central tower.
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  Second-story veranda.

25°58′16″S 32°33′52″E / 25.9711°S 32.5645°E / -25.9711; 32.5645