Djenné - City of Clay, Mali (77/418)

Inhabited since 250 B.C., Djenné developed into a market centre and a link in the trans-Saharan gold trade. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it became one of the spiritual centres for the dissemination of Islam. Its traditional houses, of which close to 2000 have survived, are built on hillocks (toguere) and adapted to the environment of seasonal floods.