1259 Travel Guide

The Tomb of Askia, in the eastern Malian city of Gao, is a 17-metre-high pyramidal mud-brick mausoleum built by Emperor Askia Mohammed of the Songhai Empire in 1495, a testament to the power and wealth the great empire accumulated through trans-Saharan trade (especially salt and gold). It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2004. Still used today as a mosque and an active community religious site, the top of the tomb offers views over the city and toward the desert.