Azougui

Azougui is an oasis settlement and a ruined city in Mauritania, which was the headquarters of the Almoravids in the 11th century. The vestiges of the former town in an oasis 15 kilometers north-west of Atar in the Adrar Plateau.

From here, the Islamized Berber nomads of the Sanhaja attacked the black African kingdom of Ghana to the south and Berber and Arab empires in Morocco and Spain. As evidenced by finds of stone tools, there were at this point already earlier settlements.

Later, there was a station on the caravan route from the north to the Sudan region. Small parts of the old citadel and the Necropolis are still standing. Today's small village is surrounded by the Dattelpalmenhains. During the date harvest in the hot summer time, the place filled with families from the cities, arriving at harvest and at the same time to spend their holidays. They live in huts ( Tikkits ) or in tents ( Khaimas ).