Tadjoura's old town is the most historically intact settlement in Djibouti — a compact district of whitewashed buildings and narrow lanes that reflect its long history as an Afar sultanate seat and trading port. The town was exporting slaves and ivory to Arabia and India for centuries before the French arrived in the 1880s, and the Arab-influenced architecture of the older mosques and merchants' houses still shows that connection.
The Sultan's palace, the Friday mosque, and a few older whitewashed buildings give the town its character. It is quiet, unhurried, and very different from the harsh development of Djibouti City. Walk down to the waterfront in the early morning when fishing boats come in, or in the late afternoon when the light turns the gulf golden and the town's residents emerge from the heat.