On the North coast of Mombasa towards the town of Malindi lies one the most pre-historic ruins found in Mombasa, called the Gede Ruins. Gede was a small country town built entirely from rocks and stones, which was inhabited by the Galla (meaning 'precious') people and ruled by a very rich Sultan.

These ruins date back from the 15th century, and through careful preservation, most of the original foundations can still be seen today. The ruins are designated as a National Museum by law.

In 1927, the Gede ruins, which sit on 45 acres of land, were declared a historic monument and much excavation and preservation work was carried out such that large areas of this ancient town are now revealed, including the pillar tombs, the palace and a great mosque. A nature trail of deciduous forests dominates the inner and outer walls of the ruins bearing testimony to the vegetation that used to exist in this place before colonisation by humans.

A small museum has been set up to exhibit ancient Arab, Chinese and Phoenician porcelain excavated from the ruins. Guided walks can also be arranged. There is a dated coral tomb with beautiful Arabic script etched with the date 1399. From the dated tomb, one can see the Great Mosque. Here sykes monkeys come to play in the treetops.

A spectacular 50m deep well known as the well of the Great Mosque which, like the other wells here, must have been used for ablutions is still discernible. On the other side of the mosque stands the Octagonal pillar tomb of the imam or priest. It is believed that the tomb is the final resting place of the King and his remians are still here.

The tomb was one ornamented with porcelain bowls as evidenced by gapping marks left by curio hunters once they removed them. Further into the Arabuko Sokoke Forest which is a must-see for bird lovers, one can see the 15th century palace where the king held court and addressed women with marital problems.

Chambers which had no windows or doors are believed to have been used by the noblemen to store their gold and jewels. The only way to gain entrance was through a secret door from the roof.

Gede was an exceptional town in the sense that a large section of the town was stone built as opposed to the mud and wattle houses along the Coast.

Recent excavations indicate that the inhabitants of Gede, the Galla, were not luxurious neither cultured, as their household items, some of which are exhibited at the Gede museum like kitchenware and eating bowls, were made of earthernware, with the upper class using chinese porcelain bowls, dishes and stoneware jars or similar vessels in glazed earthernware.

The town of Gede occupied a very large area and had two walls around it. The inner wall was where the rich lived. The outer wall enclosed 18 hectares which also included farm and plantation land with quite a number of mud and wattle houses for the middle class. Outside the walls is where the peasants lived.

Gede is the most intensively studied site on the coast. Sir John Kirk, a British resident of Zanzibar in 1884 was the first to visit. More than forty years later in 1927, it was gazetted as a Historical Monument. Two years later in 1929, it was declared a "protected monument" and in the late thirties, the Public Works Department carried out repairs for preservation of its crumbling walls.

After the repair in 1948 Gede become a National park and an Archaeologist was appointed as warden. Hence, the first archaeological work at Gede began under the direction of James Kirkman followed by the first publication of the site. From 1969 to date the Monument is under the care of the National Museums of Kenya.

In addition to being a very important archaeological site, Gede indigenous forest is a sacred site for the ethnic groups living in the environs and traditional rituals and sacrifices are carried out here.

It is not quite clear why the town was eventually deserted. Several theories have been put across:

• One of the theories is that it was overcome by an army from Mombasa on its way to attack Malindi around 1530 AD.
• Another theory suggests that the Gallas who were raiding southwards around 1600 AD made life unbearable.
• It is also theorised that lack of water (drying of the wells) except one which was outside the walls contributed to its abandonment.

Whatever theory is true, one thing is clear, the nobles did not flee because they had time to empty their gold and precious stones in their secret vaults since none of this told of wealth has ever been found.