Africa is an overwhelming size and it can be hard to know which destinations would give you a good taste of such an expansive continent. So here are a few little tasters of peculiar architectural wonders across 11 of Africa’s vibrant countries: Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Mali, Algeria, South Africa, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Namibia and Nigeria. Egypt may have been your first thought when it come to architecture in Africa but this post is a shout out to the little gems missed off the regular tourist track.

|ROCK CHURCHES OF LALIBELA

Lalibela, Ethiopia

|GREAT MOSQUE OF DJENNE

Djenne, Mali

The great mud mosque of Djenne is the largest mud-brick structure in the world! Not bad considering it was once described by a French journalist as ‘a cross between a hedgehog and a church organ’. Then again, it could be worse.

Every year the world record holder risks losing its title to the thunderous rainy season, threatening to turn it all to a sanctified mud swamp. But the people of Djenne are used to this, and each year during a festival called Crépissage (plastering), the mosque and the neighbouring houses are reinforced with an extra layer of mud to seal any and all cracks.

Unsurprisingly, the epic event has turned into a competition and teams of villagers race to finish their section first and win the cash prize on offer. This is the one day a year women are allowed to enter the mosque. They must carry the water to the men waiting to mix it with the mud. It is a mammoth task, but each year an all consuming mud fight ensues that brings all the local villages together to enjoy celebrating their heritage.

“Mali – Djenne” by Göran Höglund (Kartläsarn) is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

“15-04-25-Crepissage Djenne 08” by Mission de l’ONU au Mali – UN Mission in Mali is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

“15-04-25-Crepissage Djenne 15” by Mission de l’ONU au Mali – UN Mission in Mali is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

|CONSTANTINE

Constantine, Algeria

If this city was in Europe it would easily have made its way on to the front of travel magazines and we could even be bored of it by now. However, hidden away in central Algeria, it has escaped a dizzying amount of media attention. The secret city is in fact one of the oldest settlements in the world, despite being perched on a clifftop island surrounded by the cavernous Rhummel Gorge. It’s for this reason Constantine is often referred to as the city of bridges, as without these skywalks no one could enter or leave.

Tip: A similar cliff top gorge town on the smaller side is the beautiful Bordj Zemoura, 3 hours drive along the coast from Constantine.

“bridges, cliffs, sunset, constantine, algeria” by mariusz kluzniak is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

|LAND OF THE DOGONS

Land of the Dogons, Mali

The primordial looking Land of the Dogons is a cultural zone that runs the length of the Cliff of Bandiagara in Mali. The Dogon people are scattered between 300 villages pressed in to the rock face (photo below) and have an intimate relationship with their environment and still practice sacred rituals today which require over 78 types of painted masks! The first outsiders to visit the Dogons were two French anthropologists in 1931, who spent years living with the tribes and studying their religion. They found the Dogons to have precise knowledge of stars lightyears away that modern science couldn’t confirm until at least 50 years later!

“Dogon country” by TREEAID is licensed under CC BY 2.0

“Daily Life in Dogon Region, Mali” by United Nations Photo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

|AÏT BENHADDOU

Aït Benhaddou, Morocco

In recent years, the blue city of Chefchaouen has stolen the attention of travellers looking to visit Morocco, but what about this earthen fortress in the Moroccan desert. The ksar rose from the desert as an important stop along the trade route from ancient Sudan to Marrakesh. Within the walls, are concealed a mosque, a village, two cemeteries and a sacred sanctuary.

You may recognise it from some of my favourite blockbusters, The Mummy, Kingdom of Heaven and best of all, Gladiator. It was here that Russel Crowe was sold to Oliver Reed as a slave before going to Rome. During filming Ridley Scott’s team actually built a 30,000 seat arena using local building techniques at the foot of this very fortress.

Oh by the way, the site was also used as Yunkai, one of the slaver cities of Essos in Game of Thrones!

Check out my blog post on a 3 Day Desert Tour of Morocco, which includes Aït Benhaddou.

|TIÉBÉLÉ

Tiébélé, Burkina Faso

The painted village of Tiébélé sits just north of Ghana’s border in Burkina Faso. The walls of each house are decorated by the women of the village in shades of red, black and white, using natural dyes which are then varnished over with a lacquer created by boiling the bean of the locust tree. The designs not only have cultural significance but also work to keep out the wet weather which could crumble the houses. The houses themselves look strange as they are windowless, the only opening being the doorway which is kept under 2ft tall. The idea behind this is to prevent the harsh sun from entering during the day and also to take any advantage from attackers.

“Cour Royale à Tiébélé” by Rita Willaert is licensed underCC BY-NC 2.0

|BERBER VILLAGES

Tunisia and Morocco, Northern Africa

The Berbers are an ethnic group traditionally from west of the Nile in North Africa. The most memorable examples of their traditional artwork include Kesra’s painted staircase and waterfalls, Chenini’s fortress, Matmata’s secret courtyards and tunnels and lastly Ksar Ouled Soltane.

Kesra is the highest Berber village in Tunisia and also one of the oldest on the continent, earning it the name ‘Princess of the Mountains’. The hike to the top is challenging but the walk is a photographer’s dream. Each step is painted in a different colour, each with a symbol from the Berber alphabet. The natural springs and aleppo groves make perfect resting spots before reaching the sanctuary at the roof of the mountain.

Chenini is the most dramatic of the Berber villages but also one of the most in need of restoration. Not to be confused with the modern village of the same name in the valley below. The white washed mosque which straddles the two ridges creates a dramatic skyline against a dusky sunset.

Le musée de Kesra Architecture by Bsghaier licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

“Tunisie 1976 Chenini 13” by iJuliAn is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Perhaps the most famous of the Berber villages is Matmata, otherwise known as Luke Skywalker’s home on Tatooine. Funnily enough the region is called Tataouine but was restyled as Tatooine for the films. The landscape is pitted with these large pits made into courtyards, around which tunnels and cave homes have been built in to the rock. If it hadn’t been for serious flooding in the 1960s bringing the area to the world’s attention this Berber village may never have made it onto our screens.

“TU413 Matmata” by S.K. LO is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Another George Lucas worthy site is the fortress like granaries of Ksar Ouled Soltane. It was these 15th century dwellings that were used as the slave quarters Anakin and his mother called home in the first Star Wars film.

“Ksar Ouled Soltane (12)” by Prof. Mortel is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

|MEROE

Meroe, Sudan

Once the capital of the Kingdom of Cush, the 200 Nubian pyramids of Sudan were overrun by desert sands determined to bury them, only later to have their tops literally blown off by an Italian treasure hunter! Luckily, despite these ravages you can still see well preserved hieroglyphs inside the tombs of these kings and queens. The remains of the ancient city now find life in mystery and legend, and whilst they might not be as big as their sisters in Giza, the collection of half-formed pyramids in this strange boundless landscape makes for an impressive sense of space and history.

You may be shocked to know that Sudan has twice the number of pyramids as Egypt!

“Meroe Pyramids at Sunrise, Sudan” by valerian.guillot is licensed under CC BY 2.0

|KOLMANSKOP GHOST TOWN

Kolmanskop, Namibia

Tucked away in a corner of the Namib Desert is a ghost town now referred to as the ‘forbidden zone’. The town was once the centre of diamond mining in Namibia after a railway worker in 1908 found the first diamond at his foot. Soon German colonialists took over the area, forcing out everyone else to secure the diamonds for themselves, only keeping local tribes people in barracks as workers in the mines. During its boom, Kolmanskop could claim to have found 11.7% of the world’s diamonds!

At the towns height of success eccentricity took over and it had its own ice factory and a wealthy family kept an ostrich as a pet which terrorised the town. However, it was not to last, by the 1930s diamonds were being found on the beaches to the south and the towns people of Kolmanskop followed them, leaving the town to be engulfed by the sand once more.

|TIGRAY’S SKY CHURCHES

Tigray, Ethiopia

Most people drive to church, a few walk, but I bet you you haven’t heard of anyone who scales a cliff face to reach their place of worship. Unlike Ethipoia’s other rock churches, the ‘churches of the sky’ in Ethiopia’s Tigray region can be found 2,500 high up in the rock face. Since the first priest ascended the canyon wall and quaried the rock directly out of the cliff, villagers have followed in his footholds and hand grips to bring their newborns to the sky church to be baptised, and even carried their dead to be entombed along the cliff edge.

Though not a well known attraction, it’s possible to hire a guide to lead you to the top. It may be a regularly used ascent, but you won’t find any ropes or safety rails and will be told to climb barefoot for better grip. The route to the top takes in views of the canyon valley framed by sheer 650ft drops. Possibly, this is part of the reason some of the priests who worship there have not gone back down in 30 to 40 years!

Check out my blog posts on other churches atop cliffs, including the monasteries of Meteora and the rock pillar monastery in Georgia

“Churches of Tigray” by Thomas Maluck Foto/Film is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

|NUBIAN VILLAGE

Nubian Village, Egypt

The Nubian Village on the banks of the Nile is a vividly pastel painted community with a love for pet crocodiles. Each house seems to have not only a funkily decorated facade but also either a live pet crocodile or a stuffed one hidden somewhere inside. The villager’s love of the toothy reptiles stems from their belief that they are sure fire protection against the Evil Eye. Visitors are welcome to hold them if they wish, or for those less adventurous you can ride brightly decorated camels through the pastel alleyways of the market before relaxing on the rainbow rooftop terrace of the Anakato Guesthouse looking over the Nile.

“Nubian village” by jodikurtz02 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

|MAPOCH NDEBELE VILLAGE

Ndebele, Zimbabwe

Mapoch village is unique, as unlike other Ndebele villages which are now cultural centres aimed at tourism, Mapoch is still permanently lived in and the tribe continue practicing their traditions. Though beadwork and geometric clothing is a long standing tradition amongst the tribe, the house paintings started more recently as a form of resistance against European colonisers. The paintings were a way of secretly communicating with other tribes which the Europeans disregarded as simple decorations. Many facades convey messages and stories personal to the tribe, though the modern world has managed to seep through as a BMW logo was spotted on one of the houses. All the houses are done freehand without any guides and sometimes the paint is even applied with chicken feathers! Impressive, considering all those straight lines.

“Women of Ndebele Village, Mpumalanga, South Africa”by South African Tourism is licensed under CC BY 2.0

|EMIR OF BAUCHI’S PALACE

Bauchi, Nigeria

The Emir’s Palace in Bauchi, Nigeria, was built and designed by the extremely popular Nigerian artist Babban Gwani, whose works you can also see in the city of Kano, Katsina and Zaria, his birthplace. I don’t know about you, but these eye-catching designs are so colourful, especially against the earthen buildings that it feels well worth a trip out to see them.

Palace of the Emir of Bauchi by Emebiriodo Ugochukwu licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

|HARAR JUGOL

Harar Jugol, Ethiopia

Harar Jugol in Ethiopia is special architecturally for two reasons… the whole city has vibrantly painted street after street, but only one of them leads to the unique house of Arthur Rimbaud.

Harar Jugol is considered the ‘fourth city of Islam’ as behind the fortified walls, within its maze-like alleys is a collection of over 82 mosques and in-between each of those are more than 100 shrines dating back to the 10th Century! There are also Indian influences which have gifted the city’s walkways with colourful verandas overhanging the markets and daily street life.

Now, Arthur Rimbaud, a famous French poet who made a treacherous journey to Harar at the age of 26 having already decided that Europe held no more interest for him. Not to mention, his lover had just shot him in the wrist in their Brussels hotel, which he would later write about in a poem entitled ‘A Season in Hell’!

Harar was where Rimbaud would spend the majority of his adult life until he died in 1891. The Hararis believed he had found peace in Harar Jugol that he was never able to find in industrialised Europe. All that remains of him now is the house in which he lived which has now been turned into a museum. A very beautiful one at that, with multicoloured glass shutters which paint light over grand staircase in the central lobby.

“Chez Rimbaud” by A.Davey is licensed under CC BY 2.0

|GANVIE FLOATING VILLAGE

Ganvie, Benin

Ganvie burst into being quite suddenly, appearing on the water of Lake Nokue out of urgent necessity rather than gradually building up. At the time, the people who would later call Ganvie home were being hunted not only by colonial Portuguese slave traders, but also by the local Fon Tribe who had struck an agreement with the Portuguese. Desperate to escape the two pronged hunt, the Tofinu Tribe remembered a loophole in the Fon’s religion that forbade them from attacking natives living on water. Without further thought, the village sprang up, still a healthy distance from the lake’s shoreline just incase!

Today Ganvie’s ramshackle huts and waterways form a community of 30,000 people each making a life on the lake, some never set a foot on the shore. The only land loving building is the school, which sits on the largest island in the lake. This is the only exception, even their livestock reside in the floating village on patches of grass that sprout above the water line. The next plan is to construct a second island in the middle of the lake to form the grounds for a cemetery. Wether that’s possible we will have to see.

“File:Houses in Ganvie Benin Dec 2017.jpg” by Kulttuurinavigaattori is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

|GHADAMES

Ghadames, Libya

An above ground cave town built by the Berbers, whom we learnt about earlier in this post. The oasis town is one of the oldest pre-Saharan cities known to humankind. Before being deserted many of the residents lived in the new village outside the walls, only returning in the sun blistering seasons when the covered alleyways and passages of the old town provided the only protection from the scorching heat. Within the walls, residents could access two ancient wells fed by the wadi spring which created this desert oasis. This spring also kept the interior of the village lush compared to the desert which once washed up against the outer walls.

Just as the town is sculpted by the covered alleyways below, the roof terraces above are also interconnected and once formed a street life of their own where the women could mix, away from the eyes of men outside of their family circle.

However, since the wadi dried up, so did the tradable goods, forcing many to leave the village. Luckily, the Libyan tourism committee in partnership with UNESCO decided to save the site and offer it as a historical attraction, which fortunately has been popular with cultural ttourists and so far prevented vandalism.

“Ghadames” by Das_A is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

“Ghadames” by Das_A is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

|KONSO STONE VILLAGE

Konso, Ethiopia

The Konso villages of the Ethiopian highlands line the edges of the Great Rift Valley amid walled pathways leading to the tightly clustered central huts of the thatched villages. The highly stacked stone walls create a deepening maze as a defence against outsiders who may look to take their land. Despite this anxiety, the Konso people have had very little contact with the outside world.

The villages are not only famous for their puzzle like alleyways and thatched homes, but also their unique way of honouring the dead. Though the village doesn’t keep a historical record, and assumes it’s always been as it is now, the community honour the dead by carving their likeness into a sculpture for their forest burial. You will see many of these mini carved totems in the area, with surprisingly gleeful expressions. A contrast to English graveyards.

Tip: As this is a living community and not a cultural museum, all visits to the area including the villages must be made via The Konso Tourist Information Centre who supplies a mandatory guide. Once you have a guide you are welcome to make plans for a multi-day hike to explore several of the villages as well as the Doha Hot Springs and the bizarre Gesergiyo rock formations.

“Konso Village, Ethiopia” by Rod Waddington is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

“Konso Village” by Rod Waddington is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

If you enjoyed this insight in to lesser known areas of Africa, I highly recommend checking out the Ìrìn Journal, an independent print journal on African Cities and Culture. They have incredible stories and photos on their Instagram account showing daily life across an entire continent.