A sandstone ridge rising some 500 meters above the parched sands of southern Mali, the 150-kilometer-long Bandiagara Escarpment has served as a cultural crossroads for more than 2,000 years. One of West Africa’s most impressive sites, the escarpment was first settled by the Toloy in the third century B.C. In the eleventh century, the Tellem, a sub-Saharan pygmy group, took up residence in the lower caves that dot the extraordinary geological formation. In the fifteenth century, the Dogon came to the area, possibly emigrating from the Nile Valley. Today, more than 200 Dogon villages, composed of mud-and-thatch dwellings, occupy the lower reaches of the rock face and valley. The Bandiagara Escarpment was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1989 and included on the 2004 World Monuments Watch to draw attention to the conservation and planning needs of the historic structures. WMF recently completed a project in collaboration with CRATerre and the Mission Culturelle de Bandiagara, which included the conservation of Arou Temple and sustainable solutions for improving local infrastructure and developing tourism programs. The project resulted in the Hogon celebration returning to Bandiagara as the building could once again be consecrated. The local community participated actively in the project.
View of the escarpment, 2008. The Dogon have a particularly harmonious tradition of environmental management, making the best use of the landscape and its natural resources to plan, build, and model settlements.
Village scene with mud bricks, 2008.
.Landscape with different levels of settlement, 2004.
Detailed view of the landscape, 2008.
Interior view of a room in the escarpment made with local materials, mainly earth, stone, wood, and straw, which need to be regularly maintained, 2008.
Stakeholders’ discussion at Arou Temple, 2009.
Arou Temple, one of the most important places of worship for the Dogon people, and granaries, 2009.
Arou Temple, northern elevation, 2009.
Arou Temple, southern elevation, 2009.
Arou Temple, view from above, 2009.
Conservator re-plastering Arou Temple, 2009.
Conservators re-plastering Arou Temple, 2009.
Arou Temple, façade from distance, 2009. Arou Temple is one of the rare intact examples of traditional Dogon religious architecture, holding spiritual and cultural value for many Dogon communities.
Kani Kombole Mosque, 2002.
