Abstract
The article discusses the architectural tradition of Mombasa, a port city in East Africa. Starting from the 10th century AD, Mombasa was an important trade centre of the Swahili culture, which developed its own language, art, crafts and architecture, drawing on Arabic, Persian and Indian influences. Mombasa is currently undergoing strong urbanisation processes, which lead to its rapid expansion, spatial chaos and urban poverty. The local authorities facing these problems decided to improve the tourist appeal of the city through initiatives to make it cleaner and enhance its aesthetic values. In 2018, an administrative decree was issued that required the façades of downtown buildings to be painted blue and white. As a result, Mombasa became the most frequently photographed city in Africa.