Itsandra

Itsandra sits on the coast a short way north of Moroni and was the seat of one of Grande Comore's sultanates before the island was unified, with the ruins of its fortified palace standing on the hill above the village and a beach of dark sand and rock below. Tombs of the sultans lie near the shore. A hotel occupies part of the bay and the village itself is quiet. The sultanate here was one of a dozen or so that divided Grande Comore before the island was brought under a single authority in the nineteenth century. The old town is one of the six medinas inscribed together by UNESCO in 2026 as the Medinas of the Historic Sultanates of the Comoros.

The main sights

• The hilltop ruins - the remains of the fortified sultanate palace.
• The sultans' tombs - the burials near the shore below the village.
• The bay - dark sand and rock with the hill rising behind.
• The village - a quiet settlement outside the capital.

When to go

May to October is the drier and cooler season. The rains fall November to April with cyclone risk. Mornings are best for the climb to the ruins.

Practical notes

The ruins are overgrown and unstable with no interpretation. Part of the beach fronts a hotel. There is little in the village itself.

Nearby

Moroni is south, and Mitsamiouli is north.

Key facts