The ruins of the ancient city of Gedi are located in Kenya, on the coast of the Indian Ocean, 16 km from the city of Malindi. The Gedi is called the lost city of the Swahili African civilization that lived on the east coast of Africa. Presumably, the city existed already in the XII century, in the XV-XVI centuries it was significantly expanded and surrounded by powerful stone walls. During this period, its heyday, archaeological research suggests that Gedi was a rich and prosperous city, the population was about 2500 inhabitants. There are no written references to the city, but excavations have shown that the townspeople actively traded with many countries of the world. Archaeologists at the site of the ruins discovered beads from Venice, coins and porcelain vases of the Ming dynasty from China, iron lamps from India and scissors made in Spain. Gedi was located on an area of 45 acres on which several mosques were erected, including the Great Gedi Mosque, the Three Sides Mosque, the palace, tombs and large stone houses, the facades of which were decorated with decorative ceramics. The city was built according to a single plan, the streets were perpendicular to each other, were equipped with drainage ditches and deep wells, from which the townspeople took water. Until now, the reason why in the first half of the XVII century the city was abandoned by residents has not been established. There is a version that the population left the city, fleeing from the hostile nomadic tribe Galla (or Oromo) from Somalia. There is also an assumption that the city left due to a drop in groundwater levels, which deprived the townspeople of water supply. According to other versions, Gedi could have been abandoned due to the invasion of the Wazimba tribe and the Portuguese by the Portuguese, who in the 16th century captured many port cities on the coast of Kenya to use them as intermediate points on their way to India. After many years of oblivion, the lost city was discovered in 1884 by the British resident of Zanzibar, Sir John Kirk. In 1927, the ruins of Gedi were declared a historical monument, and in 1948 - the National Monument of Kenya. Since 1969, the ruins of Gedi have been a branch of the National Museum of Kenya. Near the ruins in 2000, a small museum was opened, which presents a collection of archaeological finds and an exposition introducing the way of life in the traditional Swahili cities.