Great Mosque of Djenné

The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud brick building in the world and is considered by many architects to be the greatest achievement of the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style, albeit with definite Islamic influences. The mosque is located in the city of Djenné, Mali on the flood plain of the Bani River. It is one of the most famous landmarks in Africa, and along with the enitire city of Djenné, was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988.

History

Many of the peoples of West Africa adhered to ancestor worship, before the introduction of Islam. These cultures believed that the an ancestor's prescence offered protection from misfortune and evil spirits. The peoples of West Africa built mud-brick or stone conical spires as a representation of this presence; often building many at the same location. Many of these established sacred locations, gave way to mosques as Islam spread thoughout the regions. The location of the Great Mosque, is a noted exception and is known to have previously been the location of a palace. Some scholars of Islamic arhitecture such as, Labelle Prussin, believe that the conical spires were integrated into the design of mosques throughout Mali.

There has been a mosque on the site since the original building was commissioned by Koi Kunboro in 1240, before Djenné would emerge as a major city of the empires of Mali and later Songhai. Shehu Ahmadu Lobbo, who conquered Djenné during the Tukulor War, ordered the original mosque demolished in 1834. He considered the original structure, which had been modified from a palace, to be too lavish. The only portion of the original building of the 1300s that still survives is an enclosure containing the graves of local leaders. A recreation of the original was completed in 1896, but was subsequently demolished to make way for the current structure.

Construction on the current Great Mosque began in 1906 and probably was completed in 1907 or 1909. The mosque’s construction was supervised and guided by the head of Djenné’s mason guild Ismaila Traoré. At the time Djenné was part of the colony of French West Africa and the French may have offered polical and economic support fot the construction of both the mosque and a nearby madrasa.

The Great Mosque was closed to non-Muslims after a fashion photography shoot on the roof and in the interior prayer-hall offended or was a viloation of a previous agreement with local leaders.

Design

The walls of the Great Mosque are made of sun-baked mud bricks called ferey and have a thickness between 41 cm (16 in.) and 61 cm (24 in.). The wall thickness depends on the height of the walls, the taller the wall the thicker the wall, and especially the base, has to be to support the wall's weight. The walls insulate the building from heat during the day and by nightfall has absorbed enough heat to keep the mosque warm through the night. Bundles of palm branches were included in the building to reduce cracking caused by frequent drastic changes in humidity temperature and to serve as ready made scaffolding for annual repairs. The prayer wall of the Great Mosque's faces east towards Mecca and overlooks the city marketplace. The eastern face of the mosque is dominated by three large box-like minarets jutting out from the main wall. On top of each minaret is a conical shaped spire topped with an ostrich egg.

Half of the mosque is covered by a roof and the other half is an open air prayer hall or courtyard. The roof of the mosque is supported by 90 wooden pillars that span the interior prayer hall. Vents were placed in the roof that are topped with removable ceramic caps, which when removed allow hot air to rise out of the building cooling off the interior. A second prayer hall is enclosed in a courtyard behind the roofed mosque and is surrounded by walls to the north, south and west, and by the mosque itself to the east. A arcade inside the surrounding walls encircles the courtyard. The walls of the arcade facing the courtyard are punctuated by arched openings, 15 m (45 ft) high, that allow viewing or entry into the courtyard from the arcade.

Water damage, in particular flooding, was a major concern of Traoré when he planned the construction. Each year the annual flooding of the Bani River causes Djenné to become and island, and unusually high flood can inundate parts of the city. The Great Mosque was constructed on a raised platform with a surface area of 75 sq. m. (807 sq. ft.). In theory the raised platform is high enough to protect the mosque from even the most severe of annual floods caused by the Bani River.