Assodé Ruins

Assodé was the principal town of the Aïr from around the twelfth century, seat of the Tuareg sultanate before Agadez took over, and what remains is several hundred roofless houses of dry-laid stone spread across a slope with a mosque among them, emptied slowly as trade shifted and drought bit, declining from the eighteenth century and finally abandoned early in the twentieth. It stands inside the Aïr and Ténéré World Heritage property. Estimates of how many people lived here run into the thousands, which for the Aïr at that period was a substantial town.

What to look for

• The stone houses - several hundred roofless dwellings across the slope.
• The mosque - the surviving religious building among the ruins.
• The dry-stone building - walls laid without mortar throughout.
• The former capital - the Aïr's main town before Agadez.

When to go

November to February is the cool season and the practical window. Summer heat is extreme with no shade. Low sun shows the wall lines best.

Practical notes

Access needs a guide, permit and four wheel drive arranged in Agadez. The walls are unstable and there is no interpretation. Nothing remains standing above head height.

Nearby

Iférouane is north, and Timia is south.