Story#216
The griot's version
We asked about the history of the town and got a song instead of a date. It lasted nine minutes, named six generations, and was more accurate than the guidebook.
Mali
The largest mud-brick building on Earth, replastered every year by an entire town.
6 entries · 2 stories, 4 fun facts
Mali at a glance
The practical numbers, before the stories.
- Capital
- Bamako
- Currency
- West African CFA franc (XOF)
- Official language
- 13 national languages including Bambara are official; French is a working language
- Climate
- Sahelian and Saharan. Very hot, with a short rainy season roughly June–September in the south.
- Best time to go
- November–February
- Time zone
- UTC±0
- Driving side
- Right
- Plugs and voltage
- Type C / E, 220 V
Worth knowing: Check your government's current travel advice before planning anything - large parts of the country are subject to warnings.
Planning a trip to Mali
The decisions that determine whether the trip works, whichever country you are going to.
The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud-brick structure in the world, and once a year the whole town turns out to replaster it. There are teams, there is a race, there is a great deal of mud, and being clean that day marks you out as a visitor.
Timbuktu's private libraries preserved hundreds of thousands of manuscripts on astronomy, law and medicine, and Sankore was a centre of learning with thousands of students in residence in the fifteenth century. Salt slabs are still cut at Taoudenni and carried by camel, though trucks now do most of the work.
Entries from Mali
Story#220
Mud plaster day
Once a year the whole town replasters the mosque. There are teams, there is a race, and there is a great deal of mud. Being clean that day marks you as a visitor.
Fun fact#474
Mali built a mud mosque
The Great Mosque of Djenne is the largest mud-brick building on Earth and is replastered each year by the whole town.
Fun fact#476
Timbuktu held vast libraries
Timbuktu's private libraries preserved hundreds of thousands of manuscripts on astronomy, law and medicine.
Fun fact#575
Timbuktu was a university town
Sankore in Timbuktu was a centre of learning in the 15th century with thousands of students in residence.
Fun fact#576
Saharan salt still moves by camel
Salt slabs are still cut in the desert and carried by camel caravan, though trucks now do most of the work.
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Mali is one of 36 countries in the library. Read straight through a continent, or start from the map of everywhere we have written about.