Haltom City Travel

Archive for the ‘Western Sahara info’ Category

In the region of Ardor in Mauritania, northwestern Africa, Chinguetti is an adventure destination for those tourists looking for something totally different and away from the comforts and luxuries of the big cities. In the past, Chinguetti was a major trans-Saharan caravan trade center of Mauritania.

This tourist destination in Africa is very beautiful for its sand dunes, and unfortunately is responsible for the advance of the desert is losing much of this humble town. It is also considered the seventh holiest city of Islam and a meeting place for pilgrims on their journey Mauritania to Mecca.

UNESCO declared Chinguetti a World Heritage Site in 1996, highlighted by its characteristic architecture made of red brick and adobe houses. Among the most significant buildings is the Chinguetti Mosque built in dry stone, Mauritania and favorite symbol of the city that gave its name to the territory.

The old town of Chinguetti is home to important manuscript libraries of scientific and Organic texts, many of them dating from the late Middle Ages. Also of great importance, the former French military fort was the site of the Foreign Legion.

In recent years, the Government of Mauritania with the support of peacekeepers in the U.S. and several NGOs are pushing the city as a center for adventure tourism, allowing travelers to ski the sand dunes, visit their libraries and appreciate the natural beauty of Western Sahara.