Fort Jesus

E257981

UNESCO World Heritage Site cultural heritage site fortress museum

Fort Jesus is a 16th-century Portuguese-built coastal fortress in Mombasa, Kenya, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a key symbol of the region’s colonial and maritime history.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Fort Jesus canonical	4
Fort Jesus Museum	1
Fort Jesus, Mombasa	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2358248 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Fort Jesus
Context triple: [Mombasa, knownFor, Fort Jesus]

A. Cape Coast Castle
Cape Coast Castle is a historic coastal fortress in present-day Ghana that served as one of the largest centers of British transatlantic slave trade in West Africa.
B. Elmina Castle
Elmina Castle is a historic coastal fortress in present-day Ghana that became one of the most significant hubs of the transatlantic slave trade.
C. Fort St. Jago
Fort St. Jago is a historic European-built coastal fort in present-day Ghana that played a significant role in the trans-Atlantic trade along the former Gold Coast.
D. Forte dos Reis Magos
Forte dos Reis Magos is a 16th-century star-shaped coastal fortress in Natal, Brazil, built by the Portuguese to defend the region and considered the city’s founding landmark.
E. Fortaleza de São João
Fortaleza de São João is a historic coastal fortification in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, built to defend Guanabara Bay and now recognized as an important military and cultural landmark.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Fort Jesus
Target entity description: Fort Jesus is a 16th-century Portuguese-built coastal fortress in Mombasa, Kenya, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a key symbol of the region’s colonial and maritime history.

A. Cape Coast Castle
Cape Coast Castle is a historic coastal fortress in present-day Ghana that served as one of the largest centers of British transatlantic slave trade in West Africa.
B. Elmina Castle
Elmina Castle is a historic coastal fortress in present-day Ghana that became one of the most significant hubs of the transatlantic slave trade.
C. Fort St. Jago
Fort St. Jago is a historic European-built coastal fort in present-day Ghana that played a significant role in the trans-Atlantic trade along the former Gold Coast.
D. Forte dos Reis Magos
Forte dos Reis Magos is a 16th-century star-shaped coastal fortress in Natal, Brazil, built by the Portuguese to defend the region and considered the city’s founding landmark.
E. Fortaleza de São João
Fortaleza de São João is a historic coastal fortification in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, built to defend Guanabara Bay and now recognized as an important military and cultural landmark.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (58)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	UNESCO World Heritage Site ⓘ cultural heritage site ⓘ fortress ⓘ museum ⓘ
architecturalStyle	Renaissance military architecture ⓘ
builder	Portuguese Empire ⓘ
builtBy	Portuguese ⓘ
constructionEnd	1596 ⓘ
constructionPeriod	late 16th century ⓘ
constructionStart	1593 ⓘ
continent	Africa ⓘ
coordinateLatitude	-4.061 ⓘ
coordinateLongitude	39.676 ⓘ
country	Kenya ⓘ
currentUse	museum ⓘ tourist attraction ⓘ
designedBy	Giovanni Battista Cairati ⓘ
hasBastions	yes ⓘ
hasBattlements	yes ⓘ
hasExhibits	Omani period artifacts ⓘ Portuguese colonial artifacts ⓘ Swahili culture artifacts ⓘ
hasFunction	coastal defense fortification ⓘ museum of Swahili coastal history ⓘ
hasMoat	yes ⓘ
heritageDesignation	National Monument of Kenya ⓘ UNESCO World Heritage Site ⓘ
heritageRegion	Africa (UNESCO) ⓘ linked to: Africa
locatedIn	Mombasa Island ⓘ Old Town Mombasa ⓘ linked to: Mombasa Island
locatedOn	Indian Ocean coast ⓘ
location	Mombasa ⓘ
managedBy	National Museums of Kenya ⓘ
material	coral stone ⓘ limestone ⓘ
namedAfter	Jesus Christ ⓘ
nearbyWaterBody	Indian Ocean ⓘ Kilindini Harbour ⓘ
originalPurpose	control entrance to Mombasa harbour ⓘ protect Portuguese trade route to India ⓘ
owner	Government of Kenya ⓘ
partOf	Mombasa Old Town historic ensemble ⓘ linked to: Mombasa Island
religiousAssociation	Christianity ⓘ
shape	human body outline ⓘ
significance	important example of 16th-century Portuguese military architecture ⓘ key symbol of Mombasa’s colonial history ⓘ symbol of Portuguese presence on the Swahili Coast ⓘ testimony to Indian Ocean maritime trade ⓘ
tourismCategory	cultural tourism site ⓘ heritage tourism site ⓘ
UNESCOWorldHeritageCriteria	criterion (ii) ⓘ criterion (iv) ⓘ criterion (vi) ⓘ
UNESCOWorldHeritageListingYear	2011 ⓘ
UNESCOWorldHeritageSiteId	1295 ⓘ
usedAs	administrative center ⓘ garrison ⓘ prison ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Mombasa → knownFor → Fort Jesus ⓘ

World Heritage Sites in Africa → hasComponentSite → Fort Jesus, Mombasa ⓘ

linked to: Fort Jesus

Coast Province → touristAttraction → Fort Jesus ⓘ

Mombasa Island → contains → Fort Jesus ⓘ

Mombasa Island → hasLandmark → Fort Jesus ⓘ

National Museums of Kenya → hasPart → Fort Jesus Museum ⓘ