Oualata's mosque is one of the oldest in Mauritania, dating to the town's flourishing as a trans-Saharan trade hub in the 13th and 14th centuries. The building is modest from the outside — a low, mud-brick structure blending into the surrounding houses — but the location is significant: this was a centre of Islamic scholarship when Oualata was one of the most important cities in West Africa.
Non-Muslims should ask locally about visiting; access depends on the time of day and whether prayers are in progress. The manuscript library associated with the mosque contains documents that scholars are still working to catalogue and preserve.