Gedi Ruins

Gedi Ruins which was gazetted as a national monument in 1927 is a Kenyan National Park, a famous tourist attraction site in Malindi, Kenya.

It was once a thriving community from the 13th – 17th century with a collection of people from all over the world. Gedi had a mosque, a palace and large stone houses thought to be complex for their time as they had bathrooms with drains and overhead basins to flush the toilets.  However, the communities that once lived here later abandoned it.

With its numerous inhabitants, the town became wealthy and it reached its peak in the fifteenth century. This enormous wealth is evidenced by the presence of numerous ruins, comprising of a conglomeration of mosques, a magnificent palace and houses all nestled in 45 acres of primeval forest. But in the first half of the seventeenth century, the last families left the town.

Gedi’s eventual abandonment to nature is believed to be as a result of a number of factors such as;
<ol>
<li>The Wazimba raid along the East African coast in 1589.</li>
<li>The removal of the Sheikh of Malindi and the Portuguese to Mombasa in 1593.</li>
<li>The falling water table as shown by the deepening of the well outside the Great Mosque</li>
<li>And finally the overhanging menace of the Galla, a hostile nomadic ethnic group from Somalia.</li>
</ol>
Its unclear of the actual name whether it is Gedi, Gede, or Kilimani therefore there are popular references to the place is Gedi Ruins.

Currently the Gedi Ruins is under the care of the National museums of Kenya.  In addition to being a very important archaeological site, Gedi’s indigenous forest is a sacred site for traditional rituals and sacrifices for the surrounding community.

The site is now inhabited by Guenon monkeys and visitors at the park can buy souvenirs at the curio shop established here.