History
History
Sources disagree on its exact construction date, somewhere between 1812–1832 and 1870–1880, but the Great Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso is probably Burkina Faso's finest example of Sudano-Sahelian architecture, built entirely from laterite, clay and shea butter. Its construction is linked to the alliance between the religious leader Almamy Sidiki Sanou and the kingdom of Sia, in the face of the threat from the neighbouring kingdom of Kénédougou.
As in Djenné, its towers and protruding wooden pillars serve as permanent scaffolding for the annual replastering, a collective maintenance ritual essential to the survival of this earthen structure.
Anecdotes & highlights
- Probably Burkina Faso's finest example of Sudano-Sahelian architecture, built entirely of banco (earth brick).
- Its construction is linked to the alliance between the religious leader Almamy Sidiki Sanou and the kingdom of Sia in the face of the threat from the Kénédougou kingdom.
- Its protruding wooden towers and pillars, used as permanent scaffolding for the annual replastering, give it a distinctive silhouette, typical of the Sahelian style shared with Djenné.
