Inscribed :1988 Criteria: C (ii) (iv) (v)


Justification for Inscription:

Report of the 12th Session of the Committee

Inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger: 1990
Justification for Inscription: Report of the 14th Session of the Committee

Brief description:
Home of the prestigious Koranic Sankore University and other médersas, Timbuktu was in the 15th and 16th centuries an intellectual and spiritual capital and a centre for the expansion of Islam throughout Africa. Its three great mosques, the Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia, speak of Timbuktu's Golden Age. Although restored in the 16th century, these monuments are today threatened by the encroachment of sand.

Threats to the Site:
At its 14th session, the World Heritage Committee inscribed the City on the List of the World Heritage in Danger due to the threat of encroachment by desert sands. A programme was set up to safeguard the site. The most pressing dangers called for the consolidation of the Djingareyber Mosque and improvement of the city's terrace rainwater drainage systems.

The World Heritage Committee, at its twenty-first session, held in December 1997, invited the Mali authorities to co- ordinate international aid for the mosques and the City of Timbuktu. The authorities are requested not to undertake major restoration work and new construction plans, which could modify the World Heritage values of the site, without previously informing the World Heritage Committee. A conservation plan for the Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia mosques should be prepared and the effectiveness and sustainability of the work already undertaken on the three mosques should be evaluated in co-operation with the World Heritage Centre.

Tombouctou, (Ministère de la Culture et du Tourisme du Mali)
Timbuktu, Mali (History Channel)

Timbucktu (World Heritage Review)