The Ghost Town
Southern Mauritania, Mauritania
Thanks to its unique vernacular architecture, beautiful mosques, decorative old houses, bones, and sand, Tichit is one of main interesting towns in the country and one the best tourist destinations in southern Mauritania.
Background
Tichit is a town at the foot of the Tagant plateau in central/south Mauritania. This once great city was founded in the 12th century and was a major trading town for salt and other items. The main industry in Tichit is date farming.
In ancient times, Tichit was near the lake of Aoukar, a lake of 50 000 square kilometres. All that now is left is the salty surface that is being slowly eroding.
The organisation of Tichit tells a lot about its history. To the north is the Shurfa quarter, where greenish stone is used, probably as an expression of the tribe of the Shurfa's claim of decendancy to the Prophet. Red stone is used in the southern quarter, where the Masana tribe lived. White stone was used for larger buildings.
Tichit is called the ghost town as only few families remain there.