Coop
Coop, east of Malhangalene, is the old Bairro Militar, or colonial military quarter, built to include barracks, shooting ranges, night and sports clubs for the officers and soldiers. Today it is a middle-class residential area and the location of the university campus. It is bordered to the southeast by Avenida Vladimir Lenine, one of the longest roads in the city, and is bisected by Avenida Kenneth Kaunda, where most embassies and United Nations agencies are based. (By contrast humanitarian non-governmental organisations are scattered across the city.) Coop boasts two of the most famous buildings in Maputo, designed by the Portuguese architect Pancho Guedes: O leo que ri (The smiling lion) and O drago (The drake). They represent an attempt to adapt the international modernism of the 1950s and 1960s to the southern African context, drawing heavily on traditional African forms. Housing in this area is mostly in apartments in simple two- or three-storey buildings except around the university campus, where professors live in attractive detached homes. The Military Hospital in Coop, which is also open to civilians, is considered one of the best hospitals in town. The area has some large and relatively well stocked shops such as Vosso Supermercado and Luz, as well as the largest Chinese restaurant in Maputo, in the Chinese building in Avenida Vladimir Lenine. With the exception of the main roads, the area is poorly served by public transport.
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Coop
Coop, Maputo