Oualata - Mauritania

Let's go back to the postcards bought in Bordeaux. 

It was because of the first of these postcards that I bought the 2 cards collection at the local flea market. It was a blind purchase because the packages were closed and it was only possible to see the first postcard. This one looked like an African postcard and I was right. This is a postcard from Mauritania. So, I have 3 postcards from this country now and they are all from Oualata, a village in the east of the country, in the middle of the Sahara. In 1996, together with Ouadane, Chinguetti and Tichitt, Oualata was classified as a World Heritage Site.  

Oualata is now an isolated town but was once an important caravan destination and an Islamic religious center.

 

Photo: Jean Christophe PLAT * Copyright: J. Ch. PLAT - 2006/2007

The town is known for its highly decorative vernacular architecture, especially its unique painted houses. The houses are painted by local women after the rainy season. The women give ornamentation to the walls, making use of all materials found in this region, mainly gypsum and clay. Doors in wood are highly decorated too.