Rovan'i Manjakamiadana
Also known as Rova of Antananarivo
1625
Vernacular
palace
Rovan'i Manjakamiadana, the Rova of Antananarivo, is the royal hilltop enclosure of the Merina kingdom set on the highest ridge of Antananarivo, with the city spreading below to north and south. Andrianjaka established the Rova on the…
Timeline
- 1794
Andrianampoinimerina made the Rova of Antananarivo the political center of the Merina kingdom.
- 1839-1840
Jean Laborde designed the large timber Manjakamiadana palace for Ranavalona I.
- 1845
James Cameron designed the northern stone gate, with Jean Laborde's bronze eagle set above it.
- 1867-1875
James Cameron encased Manjakamiadana in a stone shell for Ranavalona II, giving the palace its monumental masonry silhouette.
- 1869-1880
The palace church Fiangonana was completed in 1880 after an eleven-year campaign to a design by William Pool.
- 1995
The Rova burned on 6 November 1995, leaving stone shells and destroying much of the wooden palace and museum fabric.
- 2000-2019
Reconstruction campaigns rebuilt parts of the palace complex through the 2000s and 2010s.
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