Sidi Brahim Mosque of El Atteuf

El Atteuf is the oldest of the five ksour of the M'Zab valley, founded in 1012 by the Ibadi community that settled this stretch of desert, and on its edge stands the small mosque and tomb of Sidi Brahim, a building that has had an influence out of all proportion to its size. It is whitewashed mud and stone with no straight lines: walls that swell and taper, a squat minaret, small openings placed where they are needed rather than where symmetry would put them, and a domed tomb chamber. European architects who came through the valley in the twentieth century, Le Corbusier among them, wrote about exactly this quality, and the building is regularly cited in accounts of modern architecture.

What you actually see

• Walls without straight lines - the swelling whitewashed forms.
• The squat minaret - the tower rising from the mass of the building.
• The domed tomb chamber - the shrine at the heart of the plan.
• The oldest M'Zab ksar - El Atteuf, founded in 1012.

When to go

October to April; the valley is brutally hot from May onward. One to two hours. A local guide is required for visits in the valley and is arranged in Ghardaia.

Honest expectations

The M'Zab is a conservative religious community with strict rules on photography, dress and access, and guides are compulsory. Interiors of mosques are generally closed to non-Muslims. Summer heat is severe. Visitors who ignore local norms are not welcome.

Nearby

Ghardaia is north-west; Beni Isguen lies in the same valley.