A TOUR OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SUDANESE MOSQUES IN WEST AFRICA
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29/9/2024
A PERFECT FUSION BETWEEN ARCHITECTURE AND NATURE
With their gradient palette of mud colors, unique shape, and use of traditional building techniques, Sudanese-Sahelian-inspired Mosques are part of West Africa's architectural landscape. Impressive vestiges of this style are present throughout the region, with creative variations from country to country. Several of those sites are listed as Unesco Heritage and still serve as community gathering places.
These edifices, which date from the 13th and 17th centuries, are some of the oldest mosques in the region and historical testimonies of the trans-Saharan trade that facilitated the expansion of Islam and Islamic culture in the area. They embody a unique and enduring architectural style that seamlessly blends Islamic influences with local architectural forms, creating a distinct and captivating fusion.
Made from local materials of consolidated banco bricks, a mix of clay macerated with straw, rice balls, or shea butter, and consolidated with wooden strands, these buildings are constructed using techniques passed down from generation to generation and still inspiring architects today.
Discover where to find the most beautiful representations of the Sudanese-style mosques in West Africa.
THE GREAT MOSQUE AND CITY OF DJENNÉ - MALI
Mali poses the most notable examples of Sudano-Sahelian architecture. Originating from the region of Djenné, this architectural style was born around the 14th century and spread throughout the south of West Africa thanks to the trade in salt and gold across the Sahara to North Africa.
Djenné, the most ancient city of sub-Saharan Africa, poses the world's most remarkable earthen edifice: the monumental Mosque of Djenné. The first Mosque on the site was built around the 13th century, but the current structure dates from early 1900. Considered the source of this type of architecture in an urban environment, the 20-meter-high building, with its facades carefully built, three large minarets, and thick walls.
Every year, before the arrival of the rainy season, the people of Djenné willingly participate in manually resurfacing the Mosque with a fresh layer of banco. Vast quantities of banco are hauled up to the Djennenké, whose feet seek support on the wooden protrusions. Known as Crépissage, this massive event usually takes place in April.
The remaining part of the city follows the same architectural style, characterized by traditional houses and a sense of harmonious design. The colorful Djenné market is a meeting place and a brewing center where tourists and locals flock on Monday mornings.
Djenné, Mali
THE MOSQUE OF MOPTI - MALI
The Mosque of Mopti, commonly called the Komoguel Mosque, is another prominent architectural gem in Mali. Fifteen meters high, 31 meters long, and 17 meters large, the Mosque is characterized by its simplicity, lighter color, smooth facade, and symmetrical towers. More straightforward in its form, with a succession of tours and massive pillars, it consists of a covered building, a courtyard, and 2-3 meter tall protective walls and stairs at the entrance.
The prowler, known for its resistant wood, is used to build the infrastructure in-house. The structure comprises a spacious central room with a flat terrace supported by multiple rows of rectangular pillars, covering approximately 360 m2. The simplicity of design is also reflected in the decorative sculptures crafted from the same material.
Mopti is one of Mali's most important cities and trading places because of its position on the grand Niger and Bani rivers' banks and its vibrant fishing port. The markets of Mopti, one of the largest in the region, are also worth a stop; they sell spices, vegetables, dried fish, and a great diversity of local Malian production.
Mopti, Mali
THE MOSQUE OF LARABANGA - GHANA
With its light and dark colors, Larabanga is an example of the whitewashed version of the earth mosque style and serves as a place of prayer and pilgrimage. The Mosque is one of the eight buildings in the Sudanese style in Ghana and one of the oldest in West Africa.
Believed to have been built following a dream by an Islamic trader named Ayuba, the building dates from the 15th century. Darker at its bases and rows. This 8m high Mosque is relatively tiny and built with mud and reeds. It comprises two main pyramidal towers, one for the minaret and one for the mihrab, which faces towards Mecca. Moreover, the external walls of the structure boast 12 conically-shaped buttresses reinforced by horizontally aligned timber elements. Another characteristic is the majestic baobab tree, one of the sacred trees in West Africa, at the left of the building and where Ayuba is buried.
Located in Larabanga, near Damongo in the Western Gonja District in the Northern region, a predominantly Muslim community. Close to the national park of Mole, the « Mecca of West Africa » is worth stopping at as it is one of the most revered religious places in the country. With its white facade in the middle of the bush and the red color of the ground, the edifice contrasts with the warmth of the arid land.
34 Sawla-Damongo Rd,
Larabanga, Ghana
THE GRAND MOSQUE OF BOBO-DIOULASSO- BURKINA FASO
Like its Ghanian counterpart, the Grand Mosque of Burkina Faso is a whitewashed variant of Sudanese architecture. The long building, located in the capital of Burkina Faso, features two minaret towers and is beautifully embellished with numerous pilasters. Constructed from mud brick, projected wooden beams, and horizontal beams, the prayer hall consists of two parts built at different periods. Like the Dyula mosques, clay piers support a flat roof and contain numerous buttresses. The Mosque features a rectangular layout, with longer sides along the north and south facades. Dominating the east front is a large tower marking the Mihrab and Qibla. A second tower rises from the north front and serves the purpose of a minaret.
The tower was erected in 1800 to reward Almamy Sidiki Sanou, who helped the King of Sia when the city where the Mosque is currently located was in danger of being taken over by the Kénédougou Kingdom. Since its establishment, the Mosque has undergone multiple renovations to expand its size and carry out necessary repairs. The area is famous for its masks, balafons, and batiks and has numerous typical cultural elements, such as a train station and a market.
Bobo Dioulasso, close to the central town hall (Mairie centrale), Burkina Faso
THE GRAND MOSQUE OF BANI - BURKINA FASO
A pilgrimage site, the Mosque of Bani, differs by its ornamentation, illustrating the attention to detail and taste for symmetry in Sudanese architecture. Located North of Burkina Faso, the majestic religious building consists of seven Zawiyahs overlooking a series of hills and offering a panoramic view of the neighborhoods.
The construction dates from the late 70s and is said to come from the idea of El Hadj Mohamed, a mystic man regarded as a Saint. Only guided by religious faith and passion for the Coran, the construction was done without any architectural plan or knowledge, with everything from the sign on its facade to the set up of the buildings reflecting its deep religious value in architectural harmony.
Reaching the top of the monument requires a tricky but worth the trek. The Big Mosque possesses 100 pillars, as many as Allah has names. The high facade represents the posture of a praying man, alternating a man raising and lowering his arms in the action of prayer. Little signs were perfectly symmetrical; three doors and five elements were placed on each side of the highest minaret. Facing the enormous Mosque, the other Mosques were built in an original spacious configuration, with the towers placed as a man invoking Allah. This unique and impressive set-up transpires a mystic and mysterious force, giving a deep sense of spirituality.
Bani, Burkina Faso
THE GRAND MOSQUE OF AGADEZ - NIGER
Located more than 900km from Niamey on the southern side of the Sahara desert, the Grand Mosque is another impressive Sudanese-inspired monument of the Sahara and Sahel region listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city was strategically founded at the crossroads of the main trans-Saharan roads during the 15th and 16th centuries, coinciding with the establishment of the Sultanate of Aïr and the sedentarization of Tuareg tribes in the area.
With its warm color and texture, it looks like a natural element not built by the human hand, as it perfectly blends into its desert environment. To reach its 27 meters minaret, the highest one made of mud brick in the world, one must go beyond the interlacing of a little, low-ceiling stairway leading to the top of the tower where a stunning panoramic view of the whole of the city and the surroundings offers itself to you. Now a hotel, the ancient place of Agadez' Sultan, can be seen in front of the Mosque.
The city's historic center comprises 11 quarters of irregular shapes; they contain numerous earthen dwellings and a well-preserved group of palatial and religious buildings and present exceptional and sophisticated examples of earthen architecture. The site bears witness to long-standing cultural, commercial, and artisanal traditions passed down through generations and continues to thrive today.
The market, with its numerous artisans, is also worth visiting; silver jewelry, takoubas swords, ornate saddles, and wooden or leather objects are all examples of the city's ancestral craftsmanship.
Agadez (closed to the Hotel Etoile Du Ténéré), Niger
NORTHERN SUDANESE MOSQUES - COTE D'IVOIRE
The North of Côte d'Ivoire possesses around 20 examples of Sudanese architecture. Seven of these, located in the regions of Kong, Tengréla, Kouto, Sorobango, Samatiguila, M'Bengué, and Kaouara, have been listed as Unesco World heritage sites. Present for almost 300 years, the Kong Mosque, or Missiriba, was built in the 17th century and still serves as a place of prayer, with separate prayer rooms and a roof made of wood, which can welcome up to 400 worshippers. Destroyed in 1897 by Doula leader Samory Toure to prevent it from falling into the hands of the French colonialists, the Mosque was rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century at the initiative of the colonial administration.
The Kong Mosque stands out with its distinctive features, including protruding timbers, vertical buttresses adorned with pottery or ostrich eggs, and elegant tapering minarets; it has little tops and a smaller, darker counterpart, the Mosque of Barrola. The building, the oldest symbol of the Islamization of the people of the North of Côte d'Ivoire, is made from raw earth brick techniques consolidated with strands offering a compact architectural singularity adapted to the relatively rainy climate of the region, scaffolding the torons when repairs become necessary. This region has a strong sense of community as the village mobilizes to restore the building after the rainy seasons. In the town, one can distinguish the traces of agricultural, livestock, and craft activities with a solid social-cultural heritage.
Architectural treasures with great religious and historical value, these secular Sahelio-Sudanese Mosques are still important for local communities. They are best seen on Fridays when they welcome numerous worshippers for the Jumu'ah.
These unique constructions shelter the religious fervor of Muslims in West Africa and highlight the cultural links between West African countries, where the structures naturally blend in with their surroundings. Sustainable but fragile edifices, in danger due to global warming, Sudanese-Sahelian-inspired Mosques have survived for centuries despite inclement weather. Their natural colors, changing according to the sunlight or layer of dust, simple forms, and design give a feeling of being in harmony with nature and make you want to discover their undisclosed secrets.
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