The silver-domed tomb of Muhammad Ahmad — the Mahdi — is the unmissable landmark of central Omdurman. The Mahdi led a religious revolt that overthrew Egyptian-British rule in Sudan in 1881-1885 and famously took Khartoum in the siege that killed General Gordon. He died of typhus six months later and was buried here in what became the capital of his short-lived Islamic state.
The current structure replaces the original, which the British destroyed in 1898 after the reconquest. Non-Muslims are usually not allowed inside, but the exterior is striking enough — a tall white building topped by a domed silver minaret that catches the sun for miles around. Combined with a walk through the surrounding Mahdist-era streets and the nearby Khalifa's House Museum, it makes an essential half-day from central Khartoum.