Overview

The Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso is the finest example of Sudano-Sahelian earthen architecture in Burkina Faso and one of the most important Islamic monuments in West Africa. Built in 1881 during the reign of the Dioula Muslim merchant community, the mosque is constructed entirely from mud brick (banco), with protruding wooden beams (torons) that act as scaffolding for the annual re-plastering that keeps the structure intact. The mosque served as the model for later Sudano-Sahelian mosques built throughout the region. Bobo-Dioulasso is the second city of Burkina Faso and a major center of Dioula culture and trans-Saharan trade history.