Memorial Sites

Visit these sacred places of remembrance and reflection

7 memorial sites found

Bisesero Genocide Memorial

Bisesero Genocide Memorial

Near Karongi/Kibuye area, Western Province

Victims Buried

40,000

Established

The area is notable for organized local resistance where Tutsi tried to defend themselves, it stands out for the two-month resistance by Tutsi civilians who fought back with traditional weapons (machetes, spears) before being overwhelmed; it is remembered as both a site of massacre and of courageous resistance.

Kigali Genocide Memorial (Gisozi)

Kigali Genocide Memorial (Gisozi)

Gasabo, Gisozi, Kigali

Victims Buried

250,000

Established

2004

The main national memorial and education centre in Kigali. Exhibitions document the genocide, house survivor testimony and archives, and it includes gardens, a children's memorial and mass graves. Managed with international partners to provide education and support to survivors.

Murambi Genocide Memorial (Murambi Technical School)

Murambi Genocide Memorial (Murambi Technical School)

Near Butare/Huye, Southern Province

Victims Buried

50,000

Established

Its preserved classrooms that display victims' remains and belongings; one of the most powerful and striking museum-style memorials documenting the brutality of the massacres.

Ntarama Genocide Memorial (Ntarama Church)

Ntarama Genocide Memorial (Ntarama Church)

Bugesera, Ntarama (Near Bugesera/Kigali region)

Victims Buried

5,000

Established

1995

The church-turned-memorial contains shelves of human remains, clothing and personal items; it documents one of the many church massacres during April 1994 and serves as a stark educational site.

Nyamata Genocide Memorial (Nyamata Church)

Nyamata Genocide Memorial (Nyamata Church)

Bugesera, Nyamata (≈30 km south of Kigali)

Victims Buried

50,000

Established

1997

The former Catholic church where thousands sought refuge and were massacred; the church interior preserves clothing, belongings and other evidence, making it a powerful witness site. It preserves the church largely as it stood after the killings: bullet-marked walls, blood-stained altar cloths, pews piled with victims' clothing, and mass graves behind the church compound.

Nyanza Genocide Memorial

Nyanza Genocide Memorial

Kagarama, Kicukiro, Southeast of Kigali city centre

Victims Buried

105,000

Established

1994

The Nyanza memorial commemorates the deaths that followed the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers from ETO on 11th April 1994, an event that left hundreds-to-thousands exposed and then massacred. The site is a place of remembrance, education and local commemoration, used each year during Kwibuka (national remembrance) and by schools, community groups and national bodies to teach about the genocide and to honor victims, and it contains mass graves, monuments with victims' names and a Garden of Memory; it is used for remembrance, survivor testimonies and education.

Nyarubuye Genocide Memorial

Nyarubuye Genocide Memorial

Kirehe, Nyarubuye (Near the Tanzanian border), Eastern Province

Victims Buried

Established

1995

A national memorial site commemorating the Nyarubuye genocide with educational and remembrance facilities.

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