The three minarets
Conical tips.
BluesyPete — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fredy LECLERCQ — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Angeline A. van Achterberg — CC BY-SA 4.0 · upyernoz from Haverford, USA — CC BY 2.0 · upyernoz from Haverford, USA — CC BY 2.0
The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud-brick building in the world, in the Sudano-Sahelian style, in the town of Djenné on the flood plain of the Bani River in central Mali. It is one of Africa's most famous landmarks and the heart of the town's life. UNESCO listed it with the Old Towns of Djenné as a World Heritage Site in 1988. The first mosque on the site was built around the 13th century, with dates between 1200 and 1330 suggested. Al-Sadi's Tarikh al-Sudan says Sultan Kunburu became a Muslim, pulled down his palace and turned the site into a mosque. The present building dates from 1907. Each year the townspeople gather to replaster its walls with mud in a famous communal event. You see a vast sand-coloured earthen wall topped by three tall square minarets ending in conical tips, with many wooden beams jutting from the walls for upkeep. The mosque stands on a raised platform that protects it from floods. Before it lies the broad market square, packed on Mondays. It stands in central Djenné. Non-Muslims do not usually go inside, so they view it from outside and from nearby rooftops. The UK Foreign Office currently advises against all travel to the whole of Mali, so read the current advice before any planning.
Conical tips.
For upkeep.
On Mondays.
Central Djenné, Bani River flood plain, Mali
In 1907, on the site of an older mosque.
Yes, the UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to the whole of Mali.