Gallery
Description
Property Name: Timbuktu Great Mosque
Inventory No: 223-29-1
Date of infill of the inventory form: 2008-02-19
Country (State party): Mali
Province: Timbuktu
Town:
Geographic coordinates: 16° 46′ 17.32″ N
3° 0′ 36.18″ W
Historic Period: 14th century, 1st half
Year of Construction: 1327
Style:
Original Use: Mosque
Current Use: Mosque
Architect: Unknown
Significance
Djingarey Ber or the Great Mosque is Timbuktu’s oldest monument and its major landmark. The foundation of the mosque, in 1325, is attributed to Mansa Musa, king of Mali, and major reconstruction was undertaken in 1569-71 for the Timbuktu qadi, al-‘Aqlb. Further modifications are recorded over the next two hundred years but substantial alterations seem to have occurred between 1828 and 1853, during a period of Masina-Fulani dominance.
Selection Criteria
vi. to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance
State of Preservation
After Timbuktu was listed as a World Heritage in Danger by UNESCO in 1988 and this mosque was included in the list in 1989, a restoration process had started on 1996. After the intervention of 1996, minor repairs and maintenance have been regularly carried out, the most important being the consolidation and rendering of the minaret in 2000. Although continuously restored, these monuments are today under threat from desertification.
References
Michell, George. ed. 1978. Architecture of the Islamic World; Its History and Social Meaning. London: Thanes & Hudson.
Archnet website: http://archnet.org