The streets around the Moro Naba Palace form one of the oldest residential quarters of Ouagadougou and the symbolic heart of the Mossi kingdom. The area is mostly low single-storey compounds in mud and concrete, with shaded courtyards and the occasional small mosque or church.
It is at its most atmospheric in the early morning before the heat builds, or in the late evening when the day's work is done and the streets fill with people moving slowly between neighbours' homes. Friday at sunrise, when the weekly Naba ceremony takes place outside the palace, is the best time to be in the quarter.