ABIDJAN, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Eight centuries-old Sudanese-style mosques in the West African country Cote d'Ivoire have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List during the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee held online and chaired from Fuzhou, China.
The eight small adobe mosques, at Tengrela, Kouto, Sorobango, Samatiguila, M'Bengue, Kong and Kaouara are characterized by protruding timbers, vertical buttresses crowned by pottery or ostrich eggs, and tapering minarets, according to a statement posted Tuesday on the UNESCO website.
"They present an interpretation of an architectural style thought to have originated around the 14th century in the town of Djenne, then part of the Empire of Mali, which prospered from the trade in gold and salt across the Sahara to North Africa," it said.
They also presented highly important testimonies to the trans-Saharan trade that facilitated the expansion of Islam and Islamic culture and reflected a fusion of Islamic and local architectural forms in a highly distinctive style that has persisted over time, it said.
The eight mosques were chosen from twenty others located in northern Cote d'Ivoire because of their historical, cultural and spiritual values.
The country's culture minister, Harlette Badou N'guessan Kouame said these religious buildings testify to ancestral know-how, and by the inscription on the world heritage list, Cote d'Ivoire would like to preserve the memories and to promote the artistic values that are attached to them.
The country already boasts of four world heritage sites, including the Grand-Bassam Historic Town as well as three other natural sites, including the Comoe National Park, Tai National Park, and Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve. Enditem