Gedi

Gedi
Photo by Roman Bruehwiler.

The Historic Town and Archaeological Site of Gedi comprises the remains of a Swahili coastal settlement and maritime trade center that flourished between the 12th and 15th centuries.

The town, abandoned in the 17th century, had inner and outer city walls. Residential areas show segmentation between the social classes. Also, the distinct street layout, pillar tombs, the palace, and two Great Mosques have been preserved. Most buildings were made of coral stone from the Indian Ocean. The town was built 6km inland from the sea, possibly for defensive reasons.

Community Perspective: Go and see these atmospheric, overgrown ruins.

Map of Gedi

Community Reviews

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Zoë Sheng

Chinese-Canadian - 19-Jan-24 -

Gedi  by Zoë Sheng

Gedi is to be nominated very soon and I wouldn't be surprised if it slides through even though the visitor centers are all "Kenyan style" half built and then left forgotten. It can do without so just seeing the ruins is enough.

You arrive at the main gate where you can pick 3 tickets. If you are into snakes and butterflies stolen from the nearby forest then be my guest. They also guilt you into thinking you are supporting the local community this way. What you could do it hire a guide for the Gedi ruins alone. I chose not to because Gedi is like Angkor Wat and you explore overgrown ruins on your own. Zoe Croft was not going to miss out on this one!! (Don't want a sidekick for that!)

There are two areas which totally will take about an hour to see. It is true that you won't understand much of what you see but I felt that I don't need to know. "Here used to be a mosque" is enough for me. Very picturesque.

I do recommend to inscribe the property but I have to think if it should connect with Lamu in some way. It is also coral buildings and from the same time period but it is ruined instead of lengthy cultural use. 


Site Info

Full Name
The Historic Town and Archaeological Site of Gedi
Unesco ID
1720
Country
Kenya
Inscribed
2024
Type
Cultural
Criteria
2 3 4
Categories
Archaeological site - Civilizations of Sub-Saharan Africa
Link
By ID

Site History

2024 Inscribed

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The site has 1 locations

Gedi

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The Plaque

No plaque has been identified yet for this site.