The archaeological site of Antongona is located in the Imamo Region of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, roughly 36 km west of

Antananarivo Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "An ...

and 6 km north of Imerintsiatosika,

Itasy Itasy is a region in central Madagascar. It borders Analamanga region in northeast, Vakinankaratra in south and Bongolava in northwest. The capital of the region is Miarinarivo, and the population was 897,962 in 2018. It is the smallest of all the ...

Site Description

Antongona consists of two main groups of archaeological sites dating from between the 16th and 18th Centuries AD, spaced roughly 300 m apart. Situated on natural rock formations, stone walls and doorways augmented the inherent defensive qualities of the rock formations constructed upon.Antongona - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
/ref> From the center of the structure, a full 360° view was obtained of the surrounding landscape, further exemplifying the defensive quality of the sites.

World Heritage Status

This site was added to the Tentative List of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Sites in Madagascar The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The sites of natural and cult ...

on November 14, 1997, in the Cultural category.

Notes

References

Antongona - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Retrieved 2009-03-02. {{coord missing, Madagascar Archaeological sites in Madagascar Archaeological sites of Eastern Africa