The Medinas of the Historic Sultanates of the Comoros

Why this place matters

UNESCO’s assessment of its heritage significance, adapted in formatting from the source dataset.

Brief synthesis

The serial property comprises the best-preserved parts of six historic cities located on the islands of Ngazidja and Ndzuwani in the Comoros. They developed from urban nuclei that emerged around at least the 11th century and evolved into city-states around the 14th-15th century, becoming eventually the principal urban centres of the sultanates established in the archipelago of Comoros within the framework of the formation of a Muslim elite linked to the Swahili world. This heritage ensemble, encompassing urban, architectural, and intangible elements, reflects the richness and specificity of Swahili cultural tradition within the Comorian island context. The former sultanic medinas have preserved their old urban morphology and fabric, and an exceptional set of traditions and social practices still alive today.

Compact fabrics, with centrally organised palaces and public squares (bangwe, mpangahari), stone houses and defensive structures, the medinas showcase insular urban forms and architectural expressions that resulted from cultural exchanges related to migration and Indian Ocean trade networks, while displaying a spatial logic dictated by a hierarchical system of social organisation based on matrilineal and matrilocal customs, age-group systems, and patrilineal Islamic traditions. The Comorian historic cities, though founded upon the same fundamental cultural and social basis, evolved along distinct trajectories shaped by their geographic, political, social and historical contexts.

Criterion (iii):

The Medinas of the Historic Sultanates of the Comoros provide an exceptional testimony to the living cultural traditions and social practices of the Comorian archipelago, which, due to its location and complex history, has become a crossroads for peoples of different origins, between Africa, the Arab world, and Europe, connected by the Indian Ocean. The hierarchical social structures of the Comorian society, based on a synthesis of matrilineal and matrilocal customs, age-group system, and patrilineal Islamic traditions, are reflected in the urban organisation of the medinas, which serve as a setting for social life and celebrations that mark the stages of life of men and women, and which in turn give the tangible heritage its meaning.

Criterion (iv):

The Medinas of the Historic Sultanates of the Comoros constitute a constellation of distinctive responses in architecture and landscape-making that collectively demonstrate the originality of Comorian urban traditions that adapted Arab-Shirazi influences to the local geographic context and combined them with African social structures and models of communal living. Through complementary responses in architecture, artistry, defensive systems, and landscape-making, created within a shared cultural matrix, the component parts showcase the origins and evolution of urbanism in the Comoros, linked to the arrival of Islam, which marked a significant cultural phase in the history of the Indian Ocean region, and illustrates a historical period that witnessed the development of interaction and exchanges between African cultures, the Arab-Muslim world, and various European powers, and the progressive integration of the region into the global maritime context.

Integrity

While the Comorian medinas of the series share historical and socio-cultural foundations that structure them, the component parts showcase the diversity of architectural, artistic, and planning responses. Each contributes individually to the series through the varying intensities and modalities of external exchanges which, combined with adaptations to specific geographical and insular contexts, generated distinct urban forms and stylistic identities. The component parts include the best-preserved, but sufficiently large, sections of each medina, with the remaining intra-muros areas and some immediate setting comprised within the buffer zones. The serial property retains high integrity in terms of urban morphology, and the system of religious and socio-cultural spaces and centres.

However, the oldest built structures (palaces, city walls, historic mosques) are highly vulnerable, with several cases in serious disrepair. The visual interconnections between the cities and the key elements of their natural environment (volcanos, hills, sea), the geographic setting and the maritime connection to the cities are elements that are functionally important as a support to the protection of the property.

Authenticity

The urban morphology and the spirit of the medinas remain strong in all six component parts, and the authenticity of their use and function is also very high. However, the authenticity of the material fabric of the historic cities has been partly compromised, particularly where concrete reconstructions have been carried out. The gradual loss of traditional skills and massive replacement of materials represent serious threats to the authenticity of the serial property. Historically, the intra-muros sections of the medinas have not been drastically transformed or remodelled, but areas outside the city walls were affected in the modern times.

The relationship of the urban centres with the sea is not fully preserved today due to modern developments. Moreover, none of the medinas maintained the maritime commercial context that characterised them during the sultanate era. The intangible heritage still structures the historic cities and gives meaning to the public and private spaces within the medinas. The customary system makes them living spaces of civic and moral education.

Protection and management requirements

The serial property is protected by Law No. 20-033/AU of 2020 on the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage in the Union of the Comoros, promulgated by Presidential Decree no. 21-013/PR. The development within the component parts is regulated by the Urban Planning and Housing Code of 1986, revised in 2011 by Law no. 11-026 on Urban Planning and Construction in the Union of the Comoros. Both legislations need to be supplemented with regulatory texts, which are under preparation. The Framework Law of the Environment no. 94-018, amended in 1995, regulates the landscape environment.

Customary, religious, and traditional laws also apply in all component parts. The legislative basis for the creation of a national inventory has been instituted by the establishment of the National Commission for the Protection of Cultural Heritage (CNPPC), responsible for the definition, implementation, and monitoring of the heritage protection policy. This will allow for the registration or listing of the component parts and their enhanced protection at the highest national level, which is yet to be achieved. The National Office for the Valorisation of Heritage (ONVP) is in charge of the mobilisation of funding for the management, valorisation, and tourism promotion.

Urban planning instruments (such as Territorial Development Plans (SAT) or Urban Development Plans (PDU)) are either not yet in place or are currently being developed. Four key ministries are involved in the different aspects of management of the serial property: the Ministry of Youth, Employment, Labour, Sports, Arts, and Culture (preservation of historical monuments and sites, their conservation and development); the Ministry of National Education, Teaching, Scientific Research, Training and Professional Integration (scientific research and training); the Ministry of the Environment, responsible for Tourism; and the Ministry of Regional Planning, Urban Development, responsible for Land Affairs and Land Transport. The National Centre for Documentation and Scientific Research (CNDRS), a public scientific and cultural institution, coordinates activities across different stakeholders. The six component parts administratively fall under six municipalities in four prefectures, whose mandate over the serial property is however limited since most of the land is privately owned or is part of the municipal estate.

The traditional management system is primarily implemented through the Village Development Committees. The civil society organisations play an active role in the implementation of public policies at the local level and are formally integrated into the management system through the appointment of site managers from among their members. The management plan with an action plan covering the period 2025-2034 is divided into two phases and is being implemented.