The Grand Mosque

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 Caillié visited Djenne a few years before the demolition of the old building he was clearly so unimpressed that he wrote very little about it in his journal. Clearly, the three towers so characteristic of the Djenne style were not present in this building. However, other writers have stipulated the the butresses were.

The first mosque was constructed by chief Konboro, the first chief of Djenne to be converted to islam. In an act of faith he had his palace demolished and replaced by a mosque. During its lifespan this mosque was remodelled, renovated and extended several times, but by the 1830's the building had fallen into disrepair. The prayerhall was rarely used, sermons were conducted in the courtyard. It was demolished by Cheiko Amadou, after he had conquered the city. He disapproved of the loose interpretation of islam which the locals adhered (according to local legend, part of the building housed a pagan temple), and built a new mosque a few hundered meters to the east, at the site of the present day school. The present day mosque was re-established by the French after their conquest of Amadou's empire.

The building is meant to impress: it looks a lot larger than it really is. Only half of the trapezoid building is roofed over, the other half is a courtyard. Only men are allowed into the prayerhall, women are obliged to prey in the gallery surrounding the courtyard. Also, the building sits on a raised plateau, and the decorative towers taper slightly inward. Together with the large number of buttresses, this makes the building look taller. The most decorative facade (with the three towers) is located on the side of the market square (east), the largest open space in Djenne, giving the impression that all sides of the building are like that.

More important: the east facade (or quibla) also faces toward Mecca; the central tower houses the Mihrab. This tower is said to refer to the prophet, while the two flanking ones refer to Alassane and Ousseynou. The towers on the north and south facade house staircases to the roof. The east facade does not have an entrance: all other facades have several.

One of the other noticable features is the large number of palmwood spars jetting out of the facade. These are decorative as wel as structural elements and scaffolding. As mud-brick buildings require a lot of maintenance after every rainy season, each year about 4000 volunteers slap on a new coat of mud to replace the one that has washed away.

Should you be able to visit the interior, which is highy unlikely if you are not a muslim, you would see a forest of columns, covering close to half of the available interior space. Holes in the ceiling allow beams of light to penetrate the interior, giving it a sacred atmosphere. During the rainy season, these holes are covered by ceramic pots.