WORLD HERITAGE VERSION REPRO OP
Ancient Ksour of Mauritania
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Known to few travellers, these four outposts are the artistic essence of Sub-Saharan Africa, reckons Sean Connolly, who discovers stone minarets, early Islamic manuscripts and even the occasional camel train
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A focal point for a country The Chinguetti Mosque was created around the 13th century – its minaret (thought to be the second oldest in continuous use) is now a national emblem for the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
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hinguetti. Ouadane. Tichitt. Oualata. Although outrank hooves, it’s still possible to spot camel trains hauling they may lack the cachet of that most famous massive, hand-hewn blocks of salt, particularly in Tichitt, the of caravan towns, Timbuktu (only 45 days remotest of the four towns. The four ksour were also hubs of Islamic scholarship, and from Chinguetti by camel), these four outposts deep in the Mauritanian Sahara are served as the last outposts for pilgrims setting off towards no less historical. Situated in a loose Mecca on hajj. Though would-be hajis arc across Mauritania, they sit at the today instead head for Nouakchott very fringes of human habitation in the “You can spend a week airport, this rich Islamic heritage lives on country, pinprick outposts overlooking in the centuries-old manuscripts kept in travelling between the plains of rocky desert and shifting private libraries here; the leather-bound Chinguetti and texts have been preserved by the boneerg dune seas beyond. Ouadane by camel” dry desert air, yet remain fragile – not Known as ksour, these fortified unlike the towns themselves. villages derive their name from the Latin castrum – castle – and their high stone walls and narrow Indeed, these once-bustling centres of desert life today cut pedestrian alleyways more than look the part. Founded in something of a forlorn figure, far from modern trade routes, the 11th and 12th centuries, each was once an important with many of the traditional buildings having collapsed and caravan town for the trans-Saharan trade, hosting camel dunes lapping at the edges of town. The largest of the ksour, trains more than 1,000 animals long ferrying salt, gold and Chinguetti, once boasted more than 20,000 residents, but slaves across the great desert. Though today wheels typically today is home to fewer than 3,500. This still makes it the
176 February/March 2022
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