World Monuments Fund Most Endangered Monuments in Africa

Embraced and sometimes nearly inundated by the ever-shifting dunes of the western Sahara, the 800-year-old village of Chinguetti served as an entrepôt for caravans laden with gold, salt, dates, and ivory. Chinguetti, a World Heritage Site, is home to an extraordinary collection of important Islamic manuscripts. Its mosque, thought to have been founded in the thirteenth century, features a prayer room with four aisles and a double-niched mihrab, as well as a courtyard. The sanctuary is best known for its massive square minaret, which towers over the town and is built of rubble masonry without mortar. The minaret is capped by four acroteria, or pedestals, each topped with a stone ostrich egg.

For the people of Chinguetti, the encroaching desert is a constant concern, as are seasonal rains, which flood the city’s most important buildings, including the mosque. While the structure seems to be largely stable, measures to conserve the extant building and prevent further deterioration are urgently needed if the mosque is to survive for future generations. The Director of the National Foundation for the Safeguard of Ancient Towns in Mauritania, part of the Ministry of Culture, is hoping to implement a long-term preservation program for the mosque with government backing. Watch listing may assist in its development and implementation.