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The Medinas of the Historic Sultanates of the Comoros
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How it came to be
The Comoros lie about 300 km off the East African coast, at a crossroads of sea trade linking East Africa, the Middle East and Madagascar. Town cores had formed by at least the 11th century and grew into city-states around the 14th and 15th.
A Muslim elite tied to the Swahili world ruled these towns, each the seat of a sultanate. Domoni on Anjouan dates from the 12th century and was the sultanate's capital until the late 18th. Mutsamudu, probably founded in 1482, gained a citadel in 1786 against slave raiders.
The listing covers six old towns: Moroni, Ikoni, Itsandra and Ntsudjini on Grande Comore, and Domoni and Mutsamudu on Anjouan. Their palaces and mosques, built with coral lime and volcanic stone, became the country's first World Heritage site in 2026.
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