Layout
The orientation and placement of structures within the site reflect the symbolism of traditional Malagasy cosmology. The sacred eastern portion contained structures associated with the veneration of the ancestors, including the royal tombs, basins of holy water used in royal rituals, and numerous Ficus and Draceana trees, which were symbolic of royalty. The northern portion of the site is the location of a courtyard where royal judgments were handed down from atop a prominent granite boulder, in line with the Malagasy association between the northern cardinal point, masculinity and political power. The houses of the royal wives were formerly located in the southern portion of the site, a cardinal point traditionally associated with femininity and spiritual power. However, adherence to cardinal division and symbolism of space is weaker at Ambohimanga than its embodiment of the significance of vertical space and elevation as an indicator of rank. Each successive sovereign that constructed a new compound within the royal city selected the new site's location less for its cardinal direction (although all later compounds were built to the south or east of the earliest one, Besakana), as much as the extent to which it was located on higher ground than the compounds that predated it.
The hill of Ambohimanga rises steeply approximately 450 feet from the surrounding terrain on its eastern side and gradually slopes downward toward the west. The royal city of the same name, situated at the peak of the hill, enjoys panoramic views over the surrounding hills and valleys, and is surrounded on the hill's slopes and the valley floor by the houses of residents of Ambohimanga village. The terraced rice paddies that cover the hillsides to the north and south of the royal city were created in the 17th and 18th centuries to provide a staple food source to the inhabitants of the hill and its surrounding villages. The crest of Ambohimanga is relatively higher than the surrounding hills and others among the traditionally designated twelve sacred hills of Imerina, symbolically indicative of the site's political significance relative to other similar hill towns. This elevation also offered an excellent vantage point for surveying the surrounding areas for advancing enemy troops.
The sacred lake of Amparihy, artificially created by at least the 18th century, provided the source for water used to fill the sacred basins within the Ambohimanga compound. A sacred spring is the source of a stream that flows through the buffer zone surrounding Ambohimanga. The water of this stream is believed to hold powers of purification and flows from two proximal sources that are covered by stones.
At royal hills the original forest cover was traditionally preserved, while the valleys below would be cultivated for rice or other food crops. The forest at Ambohimanga is the largest of the last remaining fragments of primary forest that formerly covered the highlands. It contains a representative assortment of native tree and plant species, in particular the endemic tree zahana (phyllarthron madagascariensis) and a variety of indigenous medicinal plants. The recent and growing presence of two foreign species (bambusa and lantana) threaten the integrity of the site's ecosystem. The local management authority is currently engaged in activities to eradicate the encroaching vegetation.
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