Aoudaghost
The ruins of a Saharan trading city that was a terminus of the gold routes.
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Aoudaghost was one of the great termini of the trans-Saharan trade, a city described by Arab geographers in the tenth and eleventh centuries as wealthy on gold coming north from the Ghana empire, taken by the Almoravids in 1054 and gone by the fourteenth century. What survives is stone foundations, wall lines and scatters of pottery and glass across a wide site excavated from the 1960s.
What you actually see
- The wall lines - stone foundations marking out the city plan.
- The surface finds - pottery and glass scattered across the site.
- The gold trade - a terminus of the routes north from the Ghana empire.
- The 1054 conquest - the Almoravid capture recorded by Arab geographers.
When to go
November to February is the cool season and the only sensible window. Summer heat is extreme with no shade. Sand can obscure the site after wind.
Honest expectations
Only foundations survive and the site takes background to appreciate. Access needs four wheel drive and a guide who knows the location. There is no interpretation and no facilities whatsoever.
Nearby
Tidjikja is north, and Nouakchott is west.
What to pack for Aoudaghost
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.
