Welcome to Matadi isCool
Matadi, Alive and Kicking!
Situated on the left bank of the impressive River Congo (the worlds second biggest river after the Amazonas) about half way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Congolese capital Kinshasa, Matadi is a vivid town that is very essential for the economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo. That’s because it is the main sea port of the country and the bigger part of all exports and imports are handled by the Matadi port.
Matadi is not only important in business life. It has also played an important role in the Congolese history, and its beautiful situation in the Bas-Congo hillscapes makes it a very pleasant resort.
about this site history In the 19th century, discoverer Stanley introduced the occupation power of Belgian king Leopold II. Leopolds creation, the Independant State of Congo, had its first capital in the village of Vivi, at some 5 kilometers from Matadi. In Vivi, Stanleys house has been transformed into a museum and can be visited up to date. Years later, Leopold assigned Boma as capital; in 1929 Kinshasa (then: Leopoldville) became seat of the colonial power.
In 1908 Leopolds Independant State of the Congo became officially a colony of the Belgian state. Colonisation became more intensive, with a growing community of Belgian, Greek and Portuguese immigrants. Matadi became a typical colonial town, with a white business and industry centre called Ville and black housing areas called Cité. The centre concentrated around the entry to the harbour premises. Colonial authorities, commercial establishments and workshops were installed. Congo's first printshop was established in Matadi and Congo's first printing press is still working today, right here in Matadi. Around 1930 colonial Matadi accomplished its characteristic outlook with the construction of the luxury Hotel Metropole. With independance in 1960, a period of civil war and political chaos began for the country. Luckily, Matadi was not touched by these wars. But the more than 30 years of looting by the MPR regime did very much affect Matadi. Investments and maintainance ran back, the people suffered of poverty, and the road and rail liaisons between Matadi and Kinshasa lost their quality and reliability. Since the end of the MPR regime, in 1997, things are trying to become better, but unfortunately the 1998 war brought a nearly one month occupation by anti government forces that cut off Matadi from its hinterland. After having looted the port, businesses and housings, the occupiers fled. Matadi is now trying to forget this nightmare, in order to become again itself: a stable, pleasant and vivid town. Matadi today People living in the Cité do their shopping at the Marché du Sud open air market, where one can whitness the fertility of Bas-Congo. Vegetables, fruits and meats of all kinds can make one believe that Congo is Edens Garden. Taxis bring the shoppers and strollers from all over Matadi. Meanwhile, in the business centre, streets are filled with visitors from Kinshasa and beyond that came to take their merchandise from the harbour entrepots. The declarants agencies and freight forwarding agencies now and then give away place for terraces where one can take a rest and flee the strong sun, enyoing a cool beer in the shade of a majestic tree. The telecom agencies are always busy, in spite of the two cellular phone networks that operate in Matadi. links
This Matadi isCool website is maintained by a group of people that love their town. There are no commercial or politic objectives. We try to provide interesting and useful information for virtual and real travellers, business people, and anyone that wants to know more about Matadi. We welcome your contribution: if you have any information, stories or pictures that we could use, then please contact us using the feedback form.
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As the river Congo is navigable up to here, Matadi has been one of the places that had the first contacts with european discoverers and colonisators. Some 45 kilometers from Matadi one can find the caves in which the Portuguese discoverer Diego Caô left his ’signature’ in the shape of inscriptions in the cave walls in 1487 A.D., in a time when the colonisation was still a matter of ’influence’ rather than ’occupation’: the Congo empire continued to exist.
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Nowadays, the population of Matadi is estimated at 200.000 or 300.000 souls. When looking down at port, Ville and Cité from Matadis highest point, Belvedère, you will notice the constant coming and going of sea vessels bringing machinery, vehicles, food, etc. and taking logs, coffee, palm oil and so on. The giant cranes in the port seem to be dancing as they are charging and decharging the vessels, trains and trucks. When hitting the road to Kinshasa, the trucks have to give their best in order to climb the steep hills; the train takes a beautyful and very curvy track trough some impressive canyons. Frequent container trains as well as intercity passenger trains and commuter trains use the single track passing by tunnels and bridges in the beautiful hillscape.
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Click on these links to get more information (in French) about Matadi at the excellent www.congo2000.com site.
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