Azougui is is an oasis and a historical site located in northwestern Mauritania, and lying on the Adrar Plateau, northwest of Atar.
The archaeological site of Azougui is considered the first Almoravid capital in the 11th century. It is a fortress built of dry stone with a surrounding wall, that has been populated and enlarged over time.
The historical city was founded by the Almoravid leader Abu Bakr bin Omar in the fifth century AH. The cliff where the site is located was an important natural element that has encouraged human settlement in this landscape. It forms an almost closed island whose passages are controllable, thus allowing the populations to remain protected from possible invasions, a very widespread phenomenon in the history of the region.
The Oasis of Azougui whose vestiges testify to its flourishing past is one of the first creations of a town in a desert environment. The palm grove is indeed the oldest in the region. Economic activity was built around this oasis which quickly became a cultural form of the daily life of the population. Nowadays, the oasis has more than twenty thousand palm trees and still retains the traditional system of canalization and exploitation. The latter is a real traditional profession that is threatening to disappear with the effects of modernization.
Excavations of the site began as early as 1979 enabling the release of several concessions and the perimeter wall. The archaeological objects unearthed provide eloquent information on the role played by the site in the trans-Saharan trade through ceramics and glass, all imported from different horizons, notably the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, and the Near East.
The historical site of Azougui is undoubtfully a magnificent piece of history. The oasis was at the center of most of the myths and legends of the area which are still deeply rooted in the collective memory and live on in the form of festivities in the region.
