Fianarantsoa is a city (commune urbaine) in south central

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

, and is the capital of

Haute Matsiatra Haute Matsiatra (in Malagasy: Matsiatra Ambony) is a region in Madagascar. It borders Amoron'i Mania region in north, Vatovavy-Fitovinany in east, Ihorombe in south and Atsimo-Andrefana in west. The capital of the region is Fianarantsoa, and the ...

Region.

History

It was built in the early 19th century by the

Merina The Merina people (also known as the Imerina, Antimerina, Borizany or Ambaniandro) formerly called Amboalambo are the largest ethnic group in Madagascar.

as the administrative capital for the newly conquered

Betsileo The Betsileo are a highland ethnic group of Madagascar, the third largest in terms of population. They chose their name, meaning "The Many Invincible Ones", after a failed invasion by King Ramitraho of the Menabe kingdom in the early 19th cent ...

kingdoms. Fianarantsoa means "Good education" in Malagasy. It is a cultural and intellectual center for the whole island. It is home to some of the oldest

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

cathedrals on the island, the oldest theological seminary (also Lutheran), as well as the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Archdiocese of Fianarantsoa (seated in the Cathedral of the Holy Name of Jesus). The city of "good education" also boasts a university named after it and built in 1972. Fianarantsoa is considered to be the capital of wine in

, because of the presence of many wine industries in the city.

Geography

It is at an average altitude of , and has a population of 191,766. The town is linked to the rest of the country by the National road 7, one of the main highways in Madagascar. The distance is 411 km to the capital

Antananarivo Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...

, 192 km to

Ihosy Ihosy is a city (commune urbaine) with 39,556 inhabitants (2018) in Ihorombe Region in central south Madagascar. Ihosy is the capital of Ihorombe Region, as well as of the district of Ihosy District, Ihosy. Geography Ihosy is an important cross ...

, 518 km to Tulear.

Ranomafana National Park Ranomafana National Park is a national park in southeastern Madagascar, in the Haute Matsiatra and Vatovavy regions. It was established as Madagascar's fourth national park in 1991 following the rediscovery of the greater bamboo lemur (''Hap ...

is a nature park popular among tourists that lies 65 km to the northeast of Fianarantsoa. Another hot spot of tourism is the Isandra geolocical formations, roughly 30 km Northwest of Fianarantsoa. It can be accessed by the unpaved National road 42 from Fianarantsoa.

Rivers

Two rivers cross this town: the Mandranofotsy in the West, and the Tsiandanitra in the East. Both are affluents of the Matsiatra river.

Transport

The city is at the endpoint of the Fianarantsoa-Côte Est Railway to

Manakara Manakara is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital Fitovinany Region and of the district of Manakara Atsimo. The city is located at the east coast near the mouth of the Manakara River and has a small port. The bridge over the Manakara Ri ...

. There is also an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

. The city lies on the Route Nationale 7, which goes from the capital in Antananarivo to the coastal city of Toliara. Also the unpaved National road 42 takes its origins in Fianarantsoa.

Education

* Université de Fianarantsoa * Faculté de médecine de Fianarantsoa French international schools: * Collège français René-Cassin

Sights

In the Upper Town (''Haute Ville''), Fianarantsoa's historical centre, where many brick houses were renovated in the original style, various churches on ''Rue du Rova'' street are worth a visit. The oldest church in Fianarantsoa is Eglise Antranobiriky dating from 1859. Fahazavana Church was built at the end of the 19th century in a neoromanesque style. Fiangonana Trinité Masombahoaka is a Protestant

neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

church dating from 1885. The largest church, the cathedral ''Cathédrale du Saint-Nom-de-Jésus de Fianarantsoa'', was built from 1871 to 1890. The train station in the busy district Lower Town (''Basse Ville'') was inaugurated in 1935. In front of the train station, in the middle of ''Place de la gare'' square, a memorial dedicated to the victims of the

Malagasy Uprising The Malagasy Uprising (; ) was a Malagasy nationalist rebellion against French colonial rule in Madagascar, lasting from March 1947 to February 1949. Starting in late 1945, Madagascar's first French National Assembly deputies, Joseph Raseta, ...

of 1947 was erected. File:Fianarantsoa 03.JPG, Train station File:FianarantsoaBahnhofInnen.jpg, Train station File:FianarantsoaPlaceDeLaGare.jpg, Place de la Gare File:FianarantsoaDenkmal.jpg, Monument File:Cathédrale du Saint Nom de Jésus de Fianarantsoa 2.jpg, Cathedral File:FianarantsoaDomInnen.jpg, Cathedral File:FianarantsoaEgliseAntranobiriky.jpg, Eglise Antranobiriky (1859) File:FianarantsoaEgliseTrinité.jpg, Eglise Trinité Mahasombahoaka (1885) File:FianarantsoaEgliseFahazavana.jpg, Eglise Fahazavana File:FianarantsoaRueDuRova.jpg, Rue du Rova

Sports

* Football: the ASF Fianarantsoa and Zanak'Ala FC are the local football teams.Zanak'Ala
/ref>

Personalities

* Odon Razanakolona (born 1946), archbishop * Pety Rakotoniaina (born 1962), politician * Louis Cambrézy (1874), founder of the newspaper

L'Écho du Sud ''L'Écho du Sud'' () is a French weekly newspaper founded in 1929 by Louis Cambrézy. It was bought in 2022 by the Ferber Group, which used it to implement deceptive marketing practices, ranging from unreported advertising to extortion attempts ...

based in Fianarantsoa.

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as

subtropical highland An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring co ...

(Cwb).

References

External links

The World Monuments Fund's Watch Page for Fianarantsoa
{{Authority control Cities in Madagascar Populated places in Haute Matsiatra Regional capitals in Madagascar