Kasubi hill

Kasubi is a hill in Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest metropolitan area.

Location

Kasubi is bordered by Kawaala to the north, Makerere to the east, Naakulabye to the southeast, Lusaze to the southwest, Lubya to the west and Namungoona to the northwest. This location is approximately 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi), by road, northwest of Kampala's central business district. The coordinates of Kasubi are:0°19'52.0"N, 32°33'20.0"E (Latitude:0.331115; Longitude:32.55555632).

History

Prior to 1856, Kasubi Hill was known as Nabulagala. Sometime after that date, Kabaka Muteesa I Mukaabya, having met misfortune at Banda Hill, where he had built his first palace, relocated to Nabulagala. He renamed the hill Kasubi, after the ancestral village of his mother, located in then Kyaggwe County; what today is known as Mukono District. Today, Buganda traditionalists refer to the place interchangeably as Kasubi or Nabulagala or Kasubi-Nabulagala.

After his death in 1884, Kabaka Muteesa I was buried at Kasubi, the first Kabaka to be buried there. Since then, Kasubi has become the official royal burial site of the Buganda monarchy. The Kasubi Royal Tombs are recognised as a World Heritage Site and are of very high significance in the culture of the Baganda.