Hamdallahi
The ruined capital of the nineteenth-century Macina Empire, on the plain near Mopti.
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Hamdallahi was built from 1820 as the capital of the Macina Empire, a theocratic state that Sekou Amadou founded across the inner Niger delta, and it was laid out to a plan with a walled enclosure, a palace and a great mosque, then destroyed in 1862. What survives is the outline of the walls and the foundations of the buildings in banco, eroding steadily on an open plain. Sekou Amadou's tomb stands within the enclosure.
What you actually see
- The wall circuit - the outline of the fortified enclosure on the plain.
- The palace foundations - the remains of the governing buildings.
- The mosque site - the ground where the great mosque stood.
- The founder's tomb - Sekou Amadou's grave within the enclosure.
When to go
November to February is the comfortable season. Rain accelerates the erosion of the banco remains. March to May is very hot with no shade.
Honest expectations
Everything is eroded mud brick and the site reads as low mounds without a guide. There is no shade or interpretation. Erosion is severe and continuing.
Nearby
Mopti is northwest, and Djenné is southwest.
What to pack for Hamdallahi
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.