Great Mosque of Djenné
Landmark
The largest building in the world made of mud, replastered by the whole town every year.
The Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali is built of bricks of sun-dried mud, covered with a layer of mud plaster. No larger building of mud exists anywhere in the world.
Rain washes a little of the plaster away each year. So once a year the whole town comes together for a day to smear on a new layer: a festival with music, races and food.
- the present mosque was built
- 1907
- century: the first mosque here
- 13th
- World Heritage since
- 1988
- 1
Bundles of palm wood stick out of the walls. They are decoration, and also the ladder for the people who do the plastering.
- 2
The thick mud walls keep the heat out by day and give it back at night.
- 3
Djenné was a rich trading town on the route of gold and salt across the Sahara.
Question 1 of 2
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