Also known as the Mosque of El Hadj Omar Tall, this mosque is considered representative of the architecture of Muslim countries in West Africa. It is a major monument of the city of Nioro, which was once an important metropolis of the former Malian empire. The mosque was the endeavor of Emperor Toucouleur El Hadj Omar Tall. After taking the city of Nioro in 1864, El Hadj Omar Tall entrusted the construction to Moustapha Koita, one of his warriors. The work lasted a year and ended in 1865.
The dry-stone mosque is located east of the town of Nioro du Sahel, 100m from the Residence of the
Prefect.
The site of the mosque includes a main building, a perimeter wall, and a courtyard with two sheds that serve as places of prayer for women on Fridays. The main building, square in shape includes 132 pillars forming 12 prayer corridors, 8 doors, and 3 small windows in the form of niches.
The Mosque retains its originality for the architectural style as well as the building materials. The mosque remains an important historical testimony of Nioro.
It reflects the way local building traditions have incorporated influences from Islam (to the east a qibla wall, facing Mecca, prayer spaces for men and women) and the evolution of constructions through regular maintenance practices. Thus, making it a unique architectural style from the Sahel of West Africa, the Sudano-Sahelian style.
The maintenance work of the mosque testifies to the transmission of the knowledge and traditional know-how of local masons and bears witness to a great popular mobilization on a voluntary basis.