Ancient Malian city celebrates annual replastering of mosque

Thousands of Malians have replastered the iconic earthen mosque in the historic city of Djenne during an annual ceremony that helps preserve the World Heritage site.

To the sound of drums and festive music, townsmen on Thursday coated the towering three-minaret mosque with fresh mud plaster.

Men rush with buckets of mud as part of the annual replastering. By OUSMANE MAKAVELI (AFP)

The annual replastering with "banco" -- a mix of earth and water -- shields the mosque from harsh weather ahead of the Sahel region's often violent rainy season.

"This mosque belongs to the whole world," said Aboubacar Sidiki Djiteye, his face streaked with mud as he joined the "unifying" ritual.

"There's no bigger event in Djenne than this," he told AFP.

Workers climb wooden ladders to apply mud to the iconic mosque. By OUSMANE MAKAVELI (AFP)

"Replastering the mosque is a tradition handed down from generation to generation," said Bayini Yaro, one of the women tasked with carrying water for the plaster mix.

Locals prepared the mix themselves, combining water, earth, rice bran, shea butter and baobab powder -- a hallmark of Sahel-Sudanese architecture.

Chief mason Mafoune Djenepo inspected the fresh coating.

"The importance of this mosque is immense. It's the image on all Malian stamps," he said.

A blessing ceremony followed the replastering, with Quranic verses recited in the mosque courtyard. Participants then shared dates and sweets.

First erected in the 13th century and rebuilt in 1907, the mosque is considered the world's largest earthen structure, according to the United Nations' cultural body, UNESCO.

Aerial view of the Great Mosque of Djenne. By OUSMANE MAKAVELI (AFP)

Djenne, home to around 40,000 residents and known for preserving its traditional banco houses, has been on UNESCO's World Heritage list since 1988.

The site was added to the endangered heritage list in 2016 due to its location in central Mali, where jihadist fighters linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as ethnic militias and criminal gangs, have waged a violent insurgency since 2012.