page_title: Rova of Antananarivo
section_title: Manampisoa
hierarchical_section_title: Rova of Antananarivo / Buildings / Manampisoa
caption_attribution_description: English: Manampisoa, residence of Queen Rasoherina within the Rova of Antananarivo, Madagascar Français&#160;: Manampisoa, residence de la reine Rasoherina dans l'enceinte du Rova de Tananarive, Madagascar
context_page_description: The Rovä of Antananarivo is a royal palace complex in Madagascar that served as the home of the sovereigns of the Kingdom of Imerina in the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as of the rulers of the Kingdom of Madagascar in the 19th century. Its counterpart is the nearby fortified village of Ambohimanga, which served as the spiritual seat of the kingdom in contrast to the political significance of the Rova in the capital. Located in the central highland city of Antananarivo, the Rova occupies the highest point on Analamanga, formerly the highest of Antananarivo's many hills. Merina king Andrianjaka, who ruled Imerina from around 1610 until 1630, is believed to have captured Analamanga from a Vazimba king around 1610 or 1625 and erected the site's first fortified royal structure. Successive Merina kings continued to rule from the site until the fall of the monarchy in 1896, frequently restoring, modifying or adding royal structures within the compound to suit their needs.
  Over time, the number of buildings within the site varied. Andrianjaka founded the Rova with three buildings and a dedicated tomb site in the early 17th century.
context_section_description: Manampisoa, also called Lapasoa ("Beautiful Palace"), was a small villa in the form of a cross designed by James Cameron for Queen Rasoherina. Construction was overseen by William Pool. After the first corner post of the building was raised on 25 April 1865, work continued for two years before Manampisoa was complete. Measuring approximately 19 metres (62 ft) long, 9.1 metres (30 ft) wide and 15 metres (49 ft) high, the structure was built using traditional vertical wood wall boards topped by a wooden roof and featured sliding windows protected by heavy wooden shutters. It was built on a site formerly occupied by the wooden house called Marivolanitra, which was relocated to Mahazoarivo to make room for the new building.
  Inside, the layout consisted of two floors with four rooms each, linked by a central staircase with a decorative wooden balustrade. Ebony and rosewood were used for the interior panelling, floors and ceilings while the floor of the central hall exhibited a diamond parquet design in oak and rosewood. An 1873 visitor described the floor as "highly polished ... all right enough for bare feet but rather slippery for boots". Wallpaper adorned the walls of the central hall, which was approximately 15 metres (49 ft) long, 6.1 metres (20 ft) wide and 3.7 metres (12 ft) high. The queen's couch occupied the northeast corner of the room, a space reserved for the ancestors according to traditional Malagasy cosmology, where she would receive visitors in repose. A room formerly used as an office by Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony occupied the portion of the second floor facing the stairway.
  Manampisoa was one of the residences of queens Rasoherina, Ranavalona II and Ranavalona III, the last three monarchs of the Kingdom of Madagascar. Once complete, Manampisoa was used by Rasoherina as her primary residence but the queen was only able to inhabit the house for approximately one year before dying in April 1868. After Rasoherina's death, her successor, Ranavalona II, used the building as a temporary worship space during work on the stone chapel. Upon the collapse of the monarchy following French colonisation, the colonial authority transformed Manampisoa into a museum of Malagasy culture.
caption: Manampisoa was built as the private residence of Queen Rasoherina.
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