Lamu Museum, Maritime heritage museum in Lamu Old Town, Kenya

Lamu Museum is a heritage museum in Lamu Old Town housed in a stone veranda building from the early 1900s that contains archaeological finds, maritime artifacts, and tools. The collection spans two floors and includes carved Swahili doors, artworks, and ethnographic objects from several communities in the region.

Lamu Fort was built between 1813 and 1821 with Omani help, after Lamu's victory at the Battle of Shela in 1812. The British colonial administration turned it into a prison in 1910, and Mau Mau detainees were held there in the 1950s. It remained a prison after Kenyan independence until 1984, when it passed to the National Museums of Kenya and became a museum.

The museum displays crafts and everyday objects from Swahili communities and other local groups that reflect life in this coastal region. Visitors can see traditional clothing, household items, and religious objects that remain part of local identity today.

The museum is easy to reach on foot since it sits in the Old Town at a central location and is well marked. Guides are available on-site to explain the collections and answer questions about the history and displayed objects.

The museum preserves manuscripts, photographs, and maritime materials collected from traditional settlements across the northern Swahili coast since the early 1900s. These rare documents offer deep insights into the lifeways and exchanges that shaped this remote coastal region.