MALI: Great Mosque of Djenne

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The Great Mud Mosque of Djenne, in southern Mali, is the largest adobe building in the world. The original mosque on the site was built in the 13th century, when Djenne was a major trading post in the wealthy Mandingo Empire, extending from the Atlantic coast to Gao, on the river Niger. The construction of the current mosque, under supervision of Djenne`s master mason Ismaila Traore, began in 1907. Of Sudano-Sahelian style architecture, the huge building is made of sun-baked bricks coated with a mud plaster which gives it the smooth, sculpted appearance. Bundles of palm wood inserted at intervals, reduces the cracking caused by extreme temperatures, and acts as scaffolding for annual maintenance work. The thick walls insulate the interior from daytime heat, and retain their warmth for evening prayers. In common with all Muslim places of worship, the Great Mud Mosque has its kiblah (prayer-niche), facing towards the sacred kaaba in Mecca. Three large box-like minarets, thrusting up from the main wall, rest on eighteen buttresses. On each minaret is a cone-shaped spire, topped with an ostrich egg, which is likely linked to ancient African fertility rites. The entire community of Djenne participates in repairing the mosque at the annual Djenne Festival when the mason’s guild directs work, just as generations before them. One of the most instantly recognisable landmarks on the African continent, the Great Mud Mosque, along with the old Town of Djenne, was designated a World Heritage Site in 1988.