Roma (Lesotho)
Coordinates: 29 ° 27 ' S , 27 ° 42' E
Roma is a university town in Lesotho in the Maseru district . Roma has about 8,000 inhabitants.
geography
Roma is about 35 kilometers southeast of the capital Maseru . The city is located in the foothills of the Maloti Mountains ( Drakensberg ) at around 1,700 meters above sea level in a basin, which is surrounded on three sides by mountains around 100 meters higher. The valley is characterized by pine trees and rocky slopes, which gives the place, besides its name, an Italian character.
Roma is on the road, the deep from Maseru to Semonkong to 192 meters Maletsunyane Falls leads, the lowest waterfall of Southern Africa .
history
Roma was founded around 1860 as the first Catholic mission station in what is now Lesotho. The city was named by the missionaries after the Italian capital.
The University
In 1945 the Catholic Pius XII. College founded, which then passed into state administration and was known from 1975 as the National University of Lesotho ("National University of Lesotho"). Hundreds of young people from South Africa studied there during the apartheid era . Today, almost exclusively locals are enrolled at the university. The number of full-time students has increased significantly recently and is around 7,000 (as of 2006). Not all of these students are Roma residents.
Other institutions
Roma was founded as the nucleus of Catholicism in Lesotho . Today, Catholics in Sesotho are called ba-roma (German: Roman ). There is a major Catholic church on site and two high schools run by the Lesotho Catholic Church . The St. Mary's High School is intended for girls and one of the best in the country.
There is also a Catholic seminary and a hospital operated by the Catholic Church on site.
The Pope's visit
In September 1988 Pope John Paul II visited Roma. Contrary to the original plan, he could not land by plane at Moshoeshoe I. International Airport near Maseru. Instead, the plane was diverted to Bloemfontein Airport in South Africa . This country was avoided because of apartheid. The Pope was therefore forced to step on South African soil. From Bloemfontein, John Paul II and his entourage arrived in Roma by land with a considerable delay, but celebrated mass in the church that same evening.
Others
In 1989, large parts of the movie American Ninja 4 (German title: American Fighter 4 - Die Vernichtung ) were shot in Lesotho . In Roma a scene arose at the university (“diplomatic reception”). Numerous lecturers at the university were hired as extras . The seminary had been barbed wire entangled to represent a contested prison. The scenes take place in Ethiopia , however .