Tomb of Askia

Bristling with wooden stakes that double as scaffolding for replastering, the 17-metre earthen pyramid at Gao marks the resting place of Askia Mohamed, emperor of Songhai, who raised it in 1495 after returning from pilgrimage to Mecca. Around it stand mosque halls, a cemetery and an assembly ground — mud architecture of the Sahel at its most monumental, built when Songhai controlled the desert trade in salt and gold. UNESCO inscribed the Tomb of Askia in 2004.