Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum

Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum

As with the Holocaust museum sites in Eastern Germany and Poland, the Genocide Memorial Museum is one of those places that you really should visit. Even if you may not be relishing the idea. This extremely powerful memorial garden and museum is on the site of a mass grave of more than 250,000 people. Over 1 million people were murdered during this 100 days of genocidal madness back in 1994, out of a population of only 7 million.

This museum poignantly tries to explain how this came to happen, by including many quotes and video testimony. It also puts this massacre in context of other genocides around the world, with exhibits on other atrocities such as the Holocaust and Bosnia-Serbia, also in 1994.

It is a harrowing experience in part. However, it is one which helps you to understand how modern Rwanda has come about. This seemingly successful and growing economy has been borne out of the terrible suffering of these events from 25+ years ago.

Please allow at least 2 hours to visit the museum, possibly more.

TIP: We recommend visiting at the start of your stay in Rwanda, or in the middle. But not the end. We also recommend visiting the markets before the museum as you may not feel like haggling for crafts or cloth afterwards.

Please Note: We don’t arrange any standalone experiences in Rwanda. We only book tours and trekking experiences as part of a tailor-made tour including accommodation and transport. So please don’t contact us to book just a tour!