The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud-brick structure in the world and the most famous example of Sudano-Sahelian architecture. The current building dates from 1907, but a mosque has stood on this raised platform since the 13th century, when the local ruler Koi Konboro converted to Islam and ordered the demolition of his palace to make way for it. Three tapering minarets dominate the eastern facade, each topped with an ostrich egg symbolising fertility and purity. The walls bristle with toron — palm-wood beams that serve as permanent scaffolding for the annual re-plastering.
Non-Muslims are no longer permitted to enter the prayer hall, a restriction in place since the 1990s. The exterior, however, is freely accessible and most striking in the soft light of early morning or late afternoon. The mosque rises from a raised plinth above the main market square, an island of mud and shadow against the open sky. Photograph it from the rooftops of the surrounding houses (with permission), where the scale of the building and the geometry of the surrounding old town become clear at once.