Basilica of the Uganda Martyrs

The Basilica of the Uganda Martyrs stands in Namugongo, roughly 12 kilometres northeast of Kampala, and ranks among the most important Catholic pilgrimage sites in Africa. Consecrated in 1968, it is dedicated to the 22 Uganda Martyrs — mostly young pages of Kabaka Mwanga II — who were executed in 1886 for refusing to renounce their Christian faith. Pope Paul VI canonised them in 1964, four years before the basilica was completed. Every year on 3 June, the feast day of the martyrs, up to two million pilgrims converge on Namugongo from across the continent, making it one of Africa's largest annual pilgrimages. The church holds the title of Basilica minor within the Archdiocese of Kampala.