The Rova of Antananarivo and Haute-Ville Ridge

Visible from almost every street corner in the capital, the stone arcades and corner towers of the Rova of Antananarivo (officially known as Anatirova) crown the highest spur of Analamanga hill at 1,462 metres above sea level. Exploring the royal compound and the cobbled ridge of Haute-Ville immediately north of it is the finest architectural walk in central Madagascar. Start at the summit in the clear morning light and work your way gently northward down the spine of the ridge toward Andohalo and Faravohitra.

Inside the Rova of Antananarivo (Manjakamiadana and Tranovola)

For nearly three centuries, the Rova served as the fortified residence of the sovereigns of the Kingdom of Imerina and later the unified Kingdom of Madagascar. Enter through the north gate surmounted by a bronze eagle added in 1845. The centrepiece of the courtyard is Manjakamiadana (the Queen's Palace), originally built in 1839 for Queen Ranavalona I by French engineer Jean Laborde as a soaring rosewood structure supported by a single 39-metre central tree trunk, then encased in triple-tiered Corinthian stone arcades and four corner towers by Scottish missionary-architect James Cameron in 1867 for Queen Ranavalona II. Painstakingly reconstructed after a 1995 fire, its interior exhibition halls display royal regalia, palanquins and portraits of the Merina monarchy.

Alongside Manjakamiadana stand the reconstructed dark-timber Besakana (one of the earliest royal houses on the hill), the royal stone tombs of the Fitomiandalana lined up near the entrance, the 1869 Protestant royal chapel (Fiangonana Anatirova) built after the court's conversion to Christianity, and a sweeping west-facing viewing terrace looking out over the tiny island monument in the middle of Lake Anosy and the distant rice plains.

Andafiavaratra Palace and the Photography Museum at Anjohy

Five minutes' walk down the cobbled lane from the Rova gate stands the distinctive pink-and-white baroque brick facade of the Andafiavaratra Palace (1873), built by British architect William Pool for Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony, who governed the kingdom and married three consecutive Merina queens. Continue another five minutes along the ridge to the Musée de la Photographie de Madagascar in Anjohy, where four projection rooms and a tranquil garden café showcase digitised 19th- and early-20th-century glass-plate photographs of royal ceremonies, highland markets and architectural transformations.

Andohalo Cathedral and the cliff-edge churches of Faravohitra

Follow the ridge north to Place d'Andohalo, the historic coronation square framed by the twin neo-Gothic stone towers of the 19th-century Andohalo Catholic Cathedral. From here, the ridge narrows along the western cliff edge past four commemorative Protestant churches built by the London Missionary Society, culminating at the panoramic belvedere of Faravohitra before you descend into Isoraka or Antaninarenina for lunch.