Built and inspired by the Portuguese at the end of the 16th century at the Southern edge of the town of Mombasa, over a spur of coral rock, and kept under their control for one century, Fort Jesus and the city of  Mombasa, bears testimony to the first successful attempt by Western civilization to rule the Indian ocean trade routes, which, until then had remained under Eastern influence.

The design of the city and the fort, with its proportions, its imposing walls and five bastions, reflects the military architectural theory of the Renaissance. Fort Jesus, Mombasa, bears physical witness, in its structures and subsequent transformations, also to the interchange of cultural values and influences between and among peoples of African, Arab, Turkish, Persian and European origin that fought to gain and maintain their control over this strategic port.