The minaret
Tallest mud-brick.
Vincent van Zeijst — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vincent van Zeijst — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Vincent van Zeijst — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Djida jida — CC0
The Grand Mosque of Agadez is an earthen mosque at the heart of historic Agadez in northern Niger, and its 27-metre minaret is the tallest mud-brick structure in the world. It has been the leading religious centre of central Niger for centuries, filled with thousands of worshippers on Fridays. The Historic Centre of Agadez joined the World Heritage List in 2013. The mosque was built in 1515, when the Songhai Empire took the city, and was restored and partly rebuilt in 1844. Tradition credits its building to Imam al-Bakhili. Agadez, the gateway to the desert, grew in the 15th and 16th centuries with the rise of the Sultanate of Aïr and became a major caravan crossroads. You see a slender pyramid-shaped minaret of reddish-brown mud, bristling with wooden beams from base to tip. Low rounded walls and neighbourhoods of mud houses and sandy lanes surround it. From afar the minaret rises above the whole city. It stands in the historic centre of Agadez. Non-Muslims usually view it from outside, and climbing the minaret may be allowed with permission. Dress modestly. The UK Foreign Office currently advises against all travel to Niger, so read the current advice before any planning.
Tallest mud-brick.
Base to tip.
Sandy lanes.
Historic centre, Agadez, Niger
27 metres, the tallest mud-brick structure in the world.
Yes, the UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Niger.