Believed to have been built in the 16th century, this art master piece made from clay has withstood time to tell the story of Niger’s forefathers as the tallest building ever built in mudbrick.
The magnificent minaret of the ancient mosque towers the historic mud city of Agadez in Northern Niger. Agadez town is full of rich history which not only boasts of the mosque but of the Sultan’s Palace that dates back to the fifteenth and sixteenth century.
“Known as the gateway to the desert, Agadez, on the southern edge of the Sahara desert, developed in the 15th and 16th centuries when the Sultanate of Aïr was established and Touareg tribes were sedentarized in the city, respecting the boundaries of old encampments, which gave rise to a street pattern still in place today.” Says UNESCO
The desert city of Agardaz seen as “a gateway to the desert” in Niger was granted World Heritage status by UNESCO in 2013.
Agadez town was key in the caravan trade becoming a major centre for trans-Saharan cultural interchanges. It was a center of Islamic learning, led by several sultanates before being colonized by the French.
In its heyday in the 1980s, some say Agadez was one of the most popular tourist destinations in Niger. But in the 1990s the city descended into unrest on the back of Tuareg minority rebellions. In recent years, the region has also been shaken by the presence of Al Qaeda-linked Islamist extremists, who have carried out several high-profile abductions — causing an already dwindling tourist flow to decline even further reports Africa review.
The 16th Century mosque stretches towards mud-walled houses which fade into the desert in the distance. According to BBC, despite restrictions on movement for both locals and visitors, the age-old way of life remains the same in this hot and dusty mud-brick city.
Sultan of Agadez still rules the region.
