Photo: Evgeni Zotov

UNESCO: Founded in the 11th and 12th centuries to serve the caravans crossing the Sahara, these trading and religious centres became focal points of Islamic culture. They have managed to preserve an urban fabric that evolved between the 12th and 16th centuries. Typically, houses with patios crowd along narrow streets around a mosque with a square minaret. They illustrate a traditional way of life centred on the nomadic culture of the people of the western Sahara.

Wikipedia: Chinguetti is a ksar or a Berber medieval trading center in northern Mauritania, located on the Adrar Plateau east of Atar.

“There’s another, largely forgotten ancient desert library in neighbouring Mauritania, in the ghost town of Chinguetti.” tweets @incunabula

UNESCO
Ancient Ksour of Ouadane, Chinguetti, Tichitt and Oualata

Headlines
Mauritania’s hidden manuscripts – Guardian
Smithsonian
Atlasobscura
messynessychic.com

Elsewhere on the Web
TripAdvisor
Flickr
The Book and the Sand: Restoring and Preserving the Ancient Desert Libraries of Mauritania

Embedded Tweets

Wikipedia
Chinguetti

Planeta.com

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