The Historic Town of Gedi

Photo by Roman Bruehwiler.

The Historic Town of Gedi is part of the Tentative list of Kenya in order to qualify for inclusion in the World Heritage List.

The Historic Town of Gedi comprises the remains of a 15th century Swahili coastal trade center. The town had an inner and outer wall; also pillar tombs, the palace and a great mosque have been excavated. The surviving buildings were made of coral stone from the Indian Ocean.

Map of The Historic Town of Gedi

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The coordinates shown for all tentative sites were produced as a community effort. They are not official and may change on inscription.

Community Reviews

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Zoë Sheng

Chinese-Canadian - 19-Jan-24 -

The Historic Town of Gedi (T) 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. 


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Full Name
The Historic Town of Gedi
Country
Kenya
Added
2010
Nominated for
2024
Type
Cultural
Categories
Archaeological site - Civilizations of Sub-Saharan Africa
Link
By ID
2010 Added to Tentative List

The site has 1 locations

The Historic Town of Gedi (T)
WHS 1997-2024