World Monuments Fund (WMF) has placed Koagannu Cemetery in its 2022 World Monuments Watch list.
The watch list is a selection of 25 heritage sites of extraordinary cultural significance facing global challenges and whose preservation is urgent and vital to local communities.
Koagannu in Meedhoo, Addu City, is a historic waterfront cemetery with distinct coral-stone architecture. Koagannu is the oldest and largest burial ground in the Maldives and has its earliest beginnings in the twelfth century with the construction of the first mosque in the country soon after the advent of Islam to the region. The surrounding cemetery dates from the subsequent centuries and comprises some 1,500 tombstones, mausoleums, and additional mosques, all constructed of coral cut from the shallow reefs around the island.
WMF stated the cemetery is threatened by climate change and that the issue highlights the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for adaptive preservation solutions.
Speaking to PSM News, Head of the Heritage Section at the Department of Heritage Zaha Ahmed said the cemetery consists of hundreds of coral gravestones ornamented and inscribed in Dhivehi and Arabic languages. She said the unique architecture and designs in Koagannu are not found anywhere else in the Maldives, and that it was a privilege for the cemetery to be included in the world monuments watch list.
Director of Communications at the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage Ismail Naail Nasheed said the government plans to establish a heritage complex at the site. He said the project is beyond the concept-design stage and the heritage complex will further increase interest in Koagannu.