The Ruins of Gedi
Deep in a coastal forest in Kenya lie the ruins of a stone town, with a palace, mosques and houses, abandoned without a clear reason.
What was reported
Hidden in the forest near Malindi on the Kenyan coast are the ruins of Gedi, a Swahili town of coral-stone houses, a great mosque, a palace, wells and streets. It was home to several thousand people, and finds of Chinese porcelain and Venetian beads show it traded across the Indian Ocean.
Yet Gedi is not mentioned in any surviving Portuguese or Arab records of the coast, and it was abandoned in the 17th century and swallowed by forest.
Explanations offered
Historians suggest several reasons for its abandonment: a falling water table that dried the wells, raids by nomadic groups, and the decline of trade after the Portuguese arrived. It is now a national monument, and local tradition treats the forest as a place to approach with respect.
- When
- Built from the 12th century; abandoned in the 1600s
- Where
- Gedi, near Malindi, Kenya
- Witnesses
- Archaeologists and visitors
- Status
- Partly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.