Thursday, November 8, 2012

Mali TN Unesco cards

I wish i had real cards from these Unesco sites in Mali. But at least, for now, i can see how they look like. The The Tomb of Askia card was sent by Gracinha and Timbuktu by Ninocas.

 The Tomb of Askia, in Gao, Mali, is believed to be the burial place of Askia Mohammad I, one of the Songhai Empire's most prolific emperors. It was built at the end of the fifteenth century and is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
UNESCO describes the tomb as a fine example of the monumental mud-building traditions of the West African Sahel. - in: wikipedia

Photo by wikipedia
Its long history as a trading outpost that linked black Africa below the Sahara Desert with Berber and Islamic traders throughout north Africa, and thereby indirectly with traders from Europe, has given it a fabled status. Combined with its relative inaccessibility, "Timbuktu" has come to be used as a metaphor for exotic, distant lands.
Timbuktu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988. In 1990, it was added to the list of world heritage sites in danger, due to the threat of desert sands. A program was set up to preserve the site and in 2005, it was taken off the list of endangered sites. The city itself is in stark contrast to the rest of the country's cities, because it has more of an Arabic flair than of an African. The streets are made of sand (except one), and one has often to go down to get into the houses, because of the sand which has leveled the streets higher than the entrances of the houses. - in:
wikitravel

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