[5] The modern devotional image of Francis Xavier on the altar references Malindi's continuing connection with the saint.

The Portuguese decided to make Mombasa their base, which had a better harbour than Malindi and was easier to defend.

As was the practice until Vatican II, the priest celebrated mass with his back to the congregation, and the altar is placed against a wall.

[7] This would have been a small, portable, stone slab that incorporated an integral, man-made depression in which the relic of a saint, such as a sliver of bone, had been sealed.

This was undoubtedly intended for liturgical use, since it incorporates a simple cross sculpted on its rear wall.

[9] The traditional makuti roof (palm leaf thatch) is an obvious and necessary modern restoration.

[10] Bell Smith was the first resident administrator for the Imperial British East Africa Company which occupied Malindi between 1890 and 1895.

[12] Several gravestones appear to be of stock design, and probably later than the burial they mark, whereas others, including that of Sir Pyers Edward Joseph Mostyn of Talacre, bt.

[2] This Chapel is said to be the oldest Christian church in East Africa and was declared a gazetted monument in 1935.

These are: the Vasco da Gama Pillar, the Portuguese Chapel, the House of Columns and the Heritage Complex museum.