Sights

Grande Mosque in Djenne, Mali - January 2001

Lindsay Kante

The most important sights in Djenne are located around the market square, which roughly devides the city in two halves.

These halves are themeselves devided in several districts, each with their own central square and unique atmosphere. The most spectacular are the Samsei and Algasba areas, east of the Grand Mosque. This is the area where most of the buildings are multiple stories high. This is also the area that most tourists see. Most guides will only take a tour through this area of the city.

The off the beaten track areas of the city are more to the west, where the buildings become predominently single story, streets are wider and tourists are a rare sight.

This doesn't mean there aren't any interesting things to see in the western part of the city. Wandering about on your own, you just might end up finding the 'real Djenne'...

Contributors
May 22, 2005 new by jst

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The Grand Mosque

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The grand mosque is the largest mud-brick building in the world. It is by far the most important building in the city, and is the iconic buidling of the Djenné style in architecture. Although the present building is barely a centry old, the site on which it stands has been occupied by a mosque for more than 750 years.

Tradition dictates the the present mosque, built in 1907, was modelled after the old mosque, which stood in its place from the 13th century to the 1830's. However, this is unlikely. When explorer René more..

type:	Mosques
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Market

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Monday is market day in Djenne. People from the area around come to town to buy and sell goods. It is great to walk around, to look at the goods (the cloth, especially), and to haggle. People are friendly and easy going generally speaking.

type:	general
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Madrassa

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There is a big number of madrassa's or Coranic schools in Djenne. They are not always very easy to find but a local guide can show them to you and explain about the teaching methods that are still in use.

type:	general
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Marché des femmes

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Next to the large market square is the Marché des femmes, also known as petit marché. A lot smaller than the weekly market, this daily market is always lively.

type:	Squares
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Tapama Dienepo

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A well maintained building in the middle of a run down area of town. It is a memorial to a human sacrifice in the 9th century. Most locals won't be able to tell you anything about this buiding at all.

type:	Memorials
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