Editing Portuguese Mozambique (section)

==Urban centres==
[[File:Maputo train station 01.jpg|thumb|Central train station of Lourenço Marques (renamed as Maputo after independence from Portugal)]]
The largest coastal cities, the first founded or settled by [[Portuguese people]] since the 16th century, like the capital {{lang|pt|[[Lourenço Marques]]}}, [[Beira, Mozambique|Beira]], [[Quelimane]], [[Nacala]] and [[Inhambane]], were modern [[Multiculturalism|cosmopolitan]] ports and a melting pot of several cultures, with a strong South African influence.<ref>{{Citation |title=Do outro lado do tempo: Moçambique antes de 1975 VERSÂO COMPLETA |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igQEvBShfu0 |access-date=2023-04-08 |language=en}}</ref>  The [[Southeast Africa]]n and [[Portuguese culture]]s were dominant, but the influence of [[Arab]], [[India]]n, and [[China|Chinese]] cultures were also felt. The cuisine was diverse, owing especially to the [[Portuguese cuisine]] and [[Muslim]] heritage, and [[seafood]] was also quite abundant.

Lourenço Marques had always been a point of interest for artistic and architectural development since the first days of its urban expansion and this strong artistic spirit was responsible for attracting some of the world's most forward-thinking architects at the turn of the 20th century. The city was home to masterpieces of building work by, [[Pancho Guedes]], [[Herbert Baker]] and [[Thomas Honney]] amongst others. The earliest architectural efforts around the city focused on classical European designs such as the Central Train Station (CFM) designed by architects [[Alfredo Augusto Lisboa de Lima]], [[Mario Veiga]] and [[Ferreira da Costa (architect)|Ferreira da Costa]] and built between 1913 and 1916 (sometimes mistaken with the work of [[Gustav Eiffel]]),<ref>Morais, João Sousa. {{lang|pt|Maputo, Património da Estrutura e Forma Urbana, Topologia do Lugar}}. Livros Horizonte, 2001, p. 110. (in Portuguese)</ref> and the Hotel Polana designed by [[Herbert Baker]].

Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Lourenço Marques was yet again at the centre of a new wave of architectural influences made most popular by Pancho Guedes. The designs of the 1960s and 1970s were characterised by [[modernist]] movements of clean, straight and functional structures. However, prominent architects such as Pancho Guedes fused this with local art schemes giving the city's buildings a unique Mozambican theme. As a result, most of the properties erected during the second construction boom take on these styling cues.