Djenne – a mosque and a market
Well, it’s been so long since I wrote an entry that I hardly know where to start. Internet access is both expensive and elusive in Mali so I haven’t had a chance to update the blog.
After leaving Bamako we went to Djenne, which was really the first place in West Africa that we had really been looking forward to after our initial two’week ‘introduction’ in Senegal, and with the long bus ride. Monday is the weekly market day in Djenne, and I thought the market was perhaps the best and most interesting one I have ever seen. There was so much colour among the locals, and though there were a few foreigners there, no one seemed to notice us at all – there are no tourist items for sale at the Djenne market, and everyone’s too busy with what they’re doing to care about us. So I was able to take some fantastic pictures of the locals, especially the beautifully dressed women.
The market’s backdrop is Djenne’s other prime attraction – a mosque that is the largest mud structure in the world. There are many mud and pole mosques in Mali, but this one is clearly the grandest and most imposing. It was built in 1907 on the site of an earlier mud-brick mosque that had stood for hundreds of years before falling into decay, so it’s probably the most significant religious site in Mali as well as being a remarkable piece of architecture. Every year after the rains they have to restore the mosque to keep it from falling apart.
Tags: Africa, Mali, market, mosque, Travel, West Africa
Nick