African Architecture

Great Zimbabwe

Along the coast, in East Africa, Islamic influence beginning about 1000 AD also led people to build mosques. Inland, at the end of the great trade routes looking for ivory and gold, people built a great city called Great Zimbabwe, about 1200 AD.

A tower from Timbuktu

In West Africa, people again built cities and mosques at the end of the trade routes for gold and slaves, especially at Timbuktu (in modern Mali).

Want more information? Here's a good book on African architecture:

Early Art and Architecture of Africa by Peter Garlake ($13.27)

More books and toys related to African Architecture
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