Enjoy a tour around Butare national museum-Huye

Butare national museum was donated by the Belgium government to Rwanda in 1989 after they gave back some of the ethnographic collection which they had acquired during their colonial reign. The design and concept of the museum was realized in co-operation with the Royal Museum for Central Africa of Tervuren, Belgium and it was open in 1990.

Today, the National Museum of Rwanda is one of the great sources of information on the cultural history that Rwanda has got and for so long, it was considered to be the best museum in East Africa as it remained very safe and sound even during the 1994 genocide.

Butare is located 135 km from Kigali and you can also visit Butare on your way from or to Nyungwe National Park.  The museum is decorated with assorted pictures, traditional artifacts and objects, tools and different craft products while the ethnographic objects are put together according to the theme so that they can give quality information on the daily life and also reveals clear insight about Rwanda’s traditional life and culture and great historical developments that can lead to clear understanding of African history.

 Today, Butare National Museum is the most important tourist attraction centres in Butare region because of its finest ethnographic works in East Africa.  Butare’s cultural importance is further enhanced by visiting the nearby Nyabisindu the former Nyanza which is a traditional seat of Rwanda’s feudal kingdom. There is a Royal Palace at Nyanza which were constructed entirely with traditional materials and recently, it was thoroughly restored to its 19th century state making it a very beautiful museum worth visiting while in Rwanda.