Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2022

Abstract

Unlike the much publicized collapse of the roof of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, in Paris, when the roof collapsed in the Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso in 2018, it did not make international news. The mosque is a masterpiece of the Sudano-Sahalian adobe mosque style, second in size only to the Grand Mosque of Djenné, in Mali, which is well known. The mosque is a source of pride for people of all religions in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso. Burkina Faso is a country of numerous languages, many of which are endangered. The tradition of oral history is a primary reason why searches of written sources do not yield much information on this important architectural masterpiece. The author summarizes the scholarship on the Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso and adds her personal description and account, from a visit in 2019, in the hope of bringing more attention to this architectural masterpiece.


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