Faza

Faza is a settlement on the North coast on Pate Island, within the Lamu Archipelago in Kenya's former Coast Province.

Faza was known by the name of Ampaza by the Portuguese dates back at least to the 14th century. In 1587 Faza was destroyed by the Portuguese as the local Sheikh had supported Mirale Bey, a notorious privateer who had earlier played a key role in ousting the Portuguese from Muscat. The Portuguese arrived from Goa with some 650 men on their punitive expedition, and unleashed their fury on Faza. Everybody they could find was killed, including the local Sheikh. The Portuguese preserved his head in a barrel of salt for display in India. After 4 days of looting they invited Fazas arch-rivals from Pate town to take away anything that they liked from Faza.

Faza was later resettled. The Portuguese in Faza constructed a chapel there, however, nothing remains of it. In the 18th century Faza again fell into decline due to the rise of Pate. The English Consul Holmwood visited the place in 1873 and found it "dirty and infected with diseases".