The hook
The largest mud-brick building in the world, a magnificent, spiky-walled Great Mosque that is re-plastered by the whole town each year in a communal festival, at the heart of an ancient Sahel trading city.
01Why it's worth it
Djenné, in the inland Niger delta of Mali, is one of the oldest towns in sub-Saharan Africa and a masterpiece of the region's distinctive Sudano-Sahelian mud architecture. Its Great Mosque, rebuilt in 1907 in the traditional style, is the largest adobe (mud-brick) structure on earth: a huge, sculptural building of sun-dried earth bristling with wooden beams (which serve as scaffolding) and topped with ostrich-egg finials, glowing warm in the sunlight. Each year the entire community joins in a festival to re-plaster the mosque with fresh mud, a remarkable act of collective care that keeps the building, and the knowledge to maintain it, alive. The town around it, of narrow lanes and earthen houses, hosts a vibrant Monday market that fills the mosque's square with colour. Tragically, Mali has been gripped by conflict and insecurity for years, and much of the country, including areas near Djenné, is currently considered dangerous, with travel strongly discouraged. This entry records an extraordinary piece of world heritage, offered with a clear warning about the present situation.
02How to experience it
Note first that much of Mali is currently unsafe, and travel is strongly advised against; check the current security situation carefully. This records the Great Mosque of Djenné and its remarkable annual re-plastering as world heritage, in hope of safer times. When conditions allow, the mosque's exterior and the Monday market are the heart of a visit; non-Muslims cannot enter the mosque itself.