The historic city of Hamdallahi, named after the formula of Islam “Alhamdu Lillahi” which means“praise to God”, is located 32 km south-east of the city of Mopti and 500 m west of the Bamako-Sevare Road.
Considered by the Inner Niger Delta population as “a sacred and eternal city”, the Historic Town of Hamdallahi undoubtedly bears a religious and sentimental significance to the people of the region, who, on the 21st June of every year, embark upon a pilgrimage thereto. This pilgrimage is not exclusive to the Malian citizens but extends to people from neighboring African countries as well. At its apogee, Hamdallahi was entirely fortified thanks to a rampart of 5600 m in perimeter built of raw bricks. It had 60 neighborhoods and an estimated population of 300,000. It housed the Great Mosque, the Palace of Sekou Amadou, the Secretariat of the Grand Council “Bato Maoudo” of the Diina, several markets and nearly 750 Koranic schools supervised by great scholars.
The historic city of Hamdallahi consists nowadays of the remains of the former capital of the Diina. Expanding over an area of 246 ha, it includes the remains of the Tata in mud bricks, the Palace of Sekou Amadou surrounded by a stone wall, the mausoleums within the Palace grounds and the new Mosque built on the site of the historic Mosque of Hamdallahi.
