Murambi, Rwanda

Murambi genocide memorial - Possibly the darkest, starkest, grimmest, most shocking site it is possible to visit as a dark tourist on planet Earth. It is unique amongst all the various genocide memorial sites in Rwanda in that at Murambi whole bodies are on display, half-decomposed, half- mummified by lime, which turned the bodies white. The experience is heart-stopping, gut-wrenching but awesome at the same time. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations More background info: Indeed, the "shock and awe" policy of the Murambi memorial is deliberate – and is defended officially as serving to prevent genocide denial. Whether or not you follow that reasoning, the site is in any case controversial. Some claim it is undignifying to display corpses like this. On the other hand, most of the dead at Murambi were indeed given a dignified burial and it is only corpses that were never claimed by any surviving relatives that were left on display, which I guess makes it a little less problematic. I'm not even convinced that their display is really "undignifying". You can argue that the fact that they are bleached white from the lime they had been buried in makes the display somewhat detached from the rawness it would otherwise have (although the thought of blacks dyed white is not without its irony). Actually, you can also see a certain beauty in the display of the dead at Murambi – and in that sense they are even more dignified than those buried in the mass graves under big stone slabs. Presumably, this is only a minority opinion. But in any case I am glad I've been to see this – haunting as the experience is. But now for some historical background information.