Great Mosque of Djenné

The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest sacred clay building and is considered a highlight of the Sudano - Sahelian architecture in Mali. The mosque is the center of the city of Djenné, in the inland delta of the Niger. The mosque is one of the most famous buildings in Africa and was declared by UNESCO in 1988, together with the Old Town Djennés and some surrounding archaeological sites to the World Heritage Site.

History

The construction of the first mosque in Djenné can be narrowed down to the period 1180-1330. The imam of the mosque Es- Sa'di wrote in 1620 that in 1180 the sultan Koi Kunboro before 4200 Ulama publicly converted to Islam. He then described his palace believers available and had rebuilt it the first Great Mosque of Djenné. His two successors should not have added the towers and the wall, so that now known as the founding date of 1240.

Amadu Hammadi Bubu (also: Sékou Amadou or Sechu Amadu ), the founder of Massina empire was to destroy the building in 1834 and then expire. The decline was due to the clay construction, which requires constant review and maintenance, accelerated. The Conqueror looked at the mosque, as emerged from a palace than to lush and luxurious. The only part that remained of the original building left is the enclosure with the graves of local leaders. The second mosque was built until 1896 based on the old plans again, but was built more modest. However, it was demolished for the present mosque again, the size and appearance is based on the first. The construction of the current Great Mosque began in 1906 and was probably completed in 1907 or 1909. Ismaila Traoré, President of the Guild Masons, directed and supervised the construction. At this time, Djenné was part of French West Africa, and the French offered possibly for the construction of the mosque and the nearby Madrasa political and economic support.

Many mosques in Mali have meanwhile electrical wiring and sanitation. In some cases, the surfaces of the mosques were to verkachelt. Here, the historical appearance and structural integrity of the buildings were destroyed. The "Great Mosque of Djenne ', though equipped with a speaker system, but the citizens of Djenné were successfully opposing the outer modernization of the building. Since were made on the roof and in the prayer room a fashion shoot for an American magazine, Non- Muslims may not enter the mosque now.

Beginning of November 2009 collapsed the southern tower of the east facade, after it had rained 75 mm within 24 hours. The reconstruction of the tower will take place in the context of restoration work in January 2009, funded by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

The building

The walls of the Great Mosque are made of sun- dried mud bricks Ferey mentioned, from a mortar on clay base and a clay plaster, which the building owes its regular surface. Depending on the height of the wall, the walls 41-61 cm thick. In the walls introduced Palmyra palm trunks (see illustration) should help to avoid cracks in the wall by the frequent, very large fluctuations in humidity and temperature. The palm trunks protrude from the wall and serve as scaffolding for repairs.

The mud walls insulate the building against the heat of the day, heat up during the day, however, so on that they keep it warm during the night. Worry about the walls outstanding ceramic tubes ensure that the rain water is not running down the walls, which would be fatal for a clay building. The prayer wall ( qibla ) of the Great Mosque is east oriented towards Mecca. In front of her is the marketplace of the town. The Quibla is dominated by three large minarets and eighteen small domes. In each minaret, a spiral staircase leads to the roof on which a conical tip sits, culminating in an ostrich egg.

A roof covers the actual mosque building, the other half of the plant is used as an open prayer hall. Ninety wooden pillars in the inner prayer hall support the roof of the mosque. If the heat back up in the prayer hall, covered with ceramic tiles vents (more than 100 ) are opened in the roof. The second, open prayer hall is located in the courtyard behind the roofed mosque part. It is surrounded on the north, south, west of walls, the eastern part completes the roofed mosque part. In the walls of arcades are embedded, who move the inner court. More than 2,000 people have in place.

Water damage, especially floods, were the main concern of the builder Traoré when he built the mosque. The annual flood of the Bani River Djenne can be an island, and also parts of the city are flooded. Therefore Traoré had the mosque built on an elevation of 5,625 square meters. So far, the mosque was spared from severe flooding.

Cultural Significance

In an annual festival, which takes place usually in April " crepissage " repair the inhabitants of Djenné jointly the damage inflicted on the rainy period of the mosque. With music and good food mend the cracks in the wall parts which are caused by the fluctuations in humidity and temperature. In the days before the feast of mud plaster required for the repair is prepared in pits. He has to be stirred for several days several times. This task usually falls to the boys playing in the prepared mud plaster and stir him there. The women and girls carry the water to the mines and supply the men during the festival so that work on the scaffolding. The festival will begin with a race among the men who bring the mud plaster from the pits to the mosque. There, the men climb onto the scaffold of the palm trunks, which is embedded in the walls and smear the plaster on the surface of the mosque. Members of the Masons' Guild guide the work.

The Great Mosque of Djenné in the Middle Ages one of the most important Islamic centers. Thousands of students came to study the Koran here. Although there are many mosques that are older than the present mosque of Djenne, this mosque is still one of the most important symbols of both the city of Djenné and the State of Mali. Your status as a landmark is also reflected in the stylistic influence of the Mosque of Mopti (1933 ), a reduced imitation in France ( 1930) and the Museum for African Art (2005) in South Korea.