What are the characteristics of the architecture in the old towns of Timbuktu and Djenné?

Timbuktu is located in central Mali, also known as "Timbuktu". It is located on the north bank of the Niger River and the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. It was founded at the end of the 11th century. It is said that Timbuktu was founded by the Tuareg. The Tuareg are nomadic people who travel between Aruwanna and the banks of the Niger River every year. During the dry season, they came south to set up camp next to a mouth of water here, and then headed north during the rainy season. This well is guarded by an old woman named Buktu. The Tuareg people call this place "Tin-Buktu", which means "the place of Buktu". The word "Timbuktu" evolved from here.

With its good geographical location, Timbuktu developed rapidly and once became a transit point for the Sonin people and the Upper Sudanese to exchange goods and a very prosperous trade center. Since the mid-14th century, it has become the main city of the Mali Empire and the Songhai Empire. During the Asgiya Dynasty (1493-1591 AD), Timbuktu's development reached its peak and became one of the famous Islamic academic research centers. It is as famous as Cairo, Baghdad and Damascus as one of the Islamic academic centers. The architecture here reflects the style of Islamic and Arabic culture, and the most famous building is the Grand Mosque. At the end of the 16th century, the Moroccans invaded and the city began to decline.

The ancient city of Djenne was established around AD 800, adjacent to the Sahara and the rainy Sudan region, and is located at the switching point between nomadic areas and fixed settlements. In ancient times, Djenné was a prosperous commercial center, famous in the Islamic world and sub-Saharan tropical Africa for its splendid Islamic culture and flourishing Moorish architecture. Now it is a city rich in precious historical and cultural value. It was built on a fortified island in the Niger River Basin, 500 kilometers from the river to the nomadic trading town of Timbuktu. The green Bani River flows slowly through the city. The city is lined with ditches, small bridges, and gurgling water. Various buildings are hidden among tall and lush mango trees, palm trees, and banana fruit bushes. The flowers are luxuriant and the grass is lush, showing people the urban scene of a tropical water town.

The Mali Empire, founded in the 13th century, annexed the Sahara region, once famous for its gold export trade. The Kingdom of Ghana was later conquered by the invading Murabits. Beginning in the 9th or 10th century, the city of Djenné played an important role in the gold trade as well as other goods in the Sudanese region. In the 11th century, a group of immigrants who broke away from the Al-Murabit Kingdom established their rule at the location of the present-day city. In 1300, the Islamic empire was established as a result of the king's conversion to Islamic power. Since then, politics has been stable and the economy has prospered; primitive black culture has developed here. Djenné has trade links with Black Africa, the Maghreb and Europe. It is connected to Timbuktu and has a large fleet. At the same time, it is also the center of the spread of Islam. The 15th and 16th centuries were a period of prosperity and development for the city of Djenné. At the end of the 16th century, the empire declined under the constant invasion of foreign enemies.

The hill where the ancient city of Djenné is located is located in the middle of a plain without any villages. It is in a place that cannot be submerged even when the Niger River overflows. The Great Mosque occupies the market square. The gravel streets of varying widths meander towards the two squares. Covering an area of ??200,000 square meters, 11 blocks surrounded by protective walls form a natural urban pattern. The ancient city of Djenné has a unified architectural style and is a representative of Sudanese architectural art. Tumped clay blocks plastered with plaster are a common building material in these countries with arid climates. Painted and decorated pilasters and parapets make the building facade and its disconnected passages delicate and unique.