Oualata

In the early 1200s this oasis took over from Aoudaghost as the southern end of the trans-Saharan trade, which meant the caravans coming down from Sijilmasa by way of Taghaza and its salt mines finished here. Raymond Mauny put the medieval population at two to three thousand. The old town is about 600 metres by 300, built of sandstone rendered in banco, and it is known for one thing above all: the facades. Doorways and window surrounds are painted in white geometric patterns, elaborate and specific to this place, and they are still being maintained. It was a religious centre as much as a commercial one and there is a manuscript museum holding what survives of that. UNESCO listed it in 1996 with Ouadane, Chinguetti and Tichitt. Hodh Ech Chargui, southeast Mauritania.