In the XVth and XVIth centuries it was the capital of gold and trade of the Songhai Empire. Its geographical situation, in the junction between the great waterway, which drained the richness’s of the south, and the caravans which crossed the desert coming from the Arab world, made Timbuktu the link between black Africa and white Africa.
The sub-saharian African specificity was enriched by the relationship with the touareg,arab-berbers, Europeans,moslems and Jews.
Sights
The mosque of djingareyber : conceived with 40 000 gold mithquals (1 mithqual equals 5 grams ) by the andalousians architect ,Abu ishaq al sahili al touwaidjin.
The mosque of sankoré: of the same dimensions as kaaba.
Mysterious libraries: contains manuscripts of the century.
Houses of the explorers: Rene caillié , henrich barth, Mungo park , Gordon laing the particular architecture of the cob houses ohcre or brown.