Soroti

Although very provincial in surroundings, Soroti is one of the main commercial centers in eastern Uganda. The busy commercial center is punctuated by architectural structures speaking of the city’s rich cultural heritage. The city is also surrounded by the magnificence of nature’s art. The most famous of Soroti’s natural wonders is a rock formation from which you can get a splendid view of central Soroti. The Soroti rock presents a beautiful vista of Soroti and its surrounding areas as well as of Mount Elgon and Lake Kyoga. Tourists who wish to climb the Soroti rock should seek permission from the Town Clerk. Aside from the town panorama, what is behind the rock would give you a glimpse at Soroti’s colonial past. There you can find graves of residents engraved with the dates of their death. The various ages of these people who were buried behind the Soroti rock is testament to the unrestrained killings during Uganda’s colonial period.

Albeit highly commercialized and dotted with stalls and shops, the center of Soroti still features facades that are reflective of the Indian traders who once inhabited the town. The thriving businesses have cleaned up and refurbished the worn down buildings of the 1970s and transformed the center into the bustling commercial it is now. The religious establishments around town remain to be sites of interest for most tourists. There is a great variety of Muslim mosques and Hindu temples around Soroti. There are also Sikh temples and some Christian churches like the Anglican Cathedral and some small Pentecostal congregations. The Islamic burial rituals are also kept alive in the bath house located at the municipal cemetery. Many graves in this cemetery even have Arabic inscriptions.

Soroti