Sights in Timbuktu (Tombouctou)
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Centre de Recherches Historiques Ahmed Baba
An amazing collection of ancient manuscripts and books are kept at the Centre de Recherches Historiques Ahmed Baba. Home to (at last count) 23,000 Islamic religious, historical and scientific texts from all over the world, the centre is the focus of a South African-funded project to protect, translate and catalogue the manuscripts.
The oldest manuscripts date from the 12th century, but there are countless other priceless works, including some of the few written histories of Africa's great empires, and works of scholarship carried to Timbuktu from Granada after Muslims were expelled from al-Andalus in 1492. Documented family histories (often over 400 years old) of Timbuktu…
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Dyingerey Ber Mosque
Timbuktu has three of the oldest mosques in West Africa. While not as visually stunning as some in Mali, they're still extremely impressive and represent classic and well-preserved examples of the Sudanese style of architecture which prevails throughout much of the Sahel. The oldest, dating from the early 14th century, is Dyingerey Ber Mosque.
You can go into this mosque, west of Place de l'Indépendance, but sometimes only with a guide. The interior is a forest of 100 sturdy pillars, and there are a series of interconnecting rooms with holes in the wall at ground level - in the days before microphones, worshippers who could not hear the imam could look through into the ma…
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Heinrich Barth's House
Heinrich Barth's incredible five-year journey began in Tripoli and took him first to Agadez, then through Nigeria and finally, in September 1853, he reached Timbuktu disguised as a Tuareg. He stayed for the best part of a year before narrowly escaping with his life and eventually returning to Europe. East of Sidi Yahiya Mosque, Heinrich Barth's House, where he stayed, is now a tiny museum containing reproductions of Barth's drawings and extracts of his writings.
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Ethnological Museum
The Ethnological Museum occupies a hugely significant site near Sidi Yahiya Mosque, containing the well of Bouctou, where Timbuktu was founded. There's also a variety of exhibits including clothing, musical instruments, jewellery and games, as well as interesting colonial photographs and pictures of the ancient rock carvings at Tin-Techoun, which have since been stolen or destroyed.
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Sankoré Mosque
Timbuktu's three great mosques - all inaccessible to non-Muslims - are nothing much to look at, but serve as reminders of its great past. The youngest of the three, Sankoré Mosque was raised at the turn of the 16th century. It also functioned as a university and an important centre of learning.
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Sidi Yahiya Mosque
Sidi Yahiya Mosque, north of Place de l'Indépendance, is named after one of the city's saints (it's said that 333 saints have lived in Timbuktu) and was constructed in 1400. Non-Muslims are not allowed to enter, and from the outside it's the least interesting of Timbuktu's main mosques.
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Flamme de la Paix
On the northwestern outskirts of town, the striking Flamme de la Paix monument is worth visiting. It was built on the spot where 3000 weapons were ceremonially burnt at the end of the Tuareg rebellion. The monument is where Timbuktu meets the desert, so continue on to enter the dunes.
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Grand Marché
The Grand Marché is the large covered building in the centre of town. It's not particularly grand, but it's busy and not a bad place to buy slabs of salt.
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