2024

HOTEL DE L'AÏR

Places associated with famous people to visit

Built by Sultan Tégama to host the Tuareg warrior Kaossen, the rebel leader of 1916-1917, is to visit. The architecture of the large hall with monumental pillars supporting a veined arch is modelled on that of the Sultan's own chamber, it is the main dining room of the restaurant. You must cross it to access the terrace from where the view over the minaret of the great mosque is unique. Moreover, the street below, always animated to delight the foreigner passing.

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 Agadez
2024

TRADITIONAL HOUSES

Mansion to visit

They have an almost blind facade to preserve the heat. Benches on both sides of the entrance allow you to participate in public life at the hottest hours. The antichambre (chiguifa) has ellipses doors that avoid any intrusive look at the privacy of the inner courtyard. We usually spend the day, and women installed on mats in ouadi fins work the leather they tailor to make large colored cushions prized by nomadic Tuareg women (during fiestas, they congregate on these cushions on the back of their donkey to parade the sound of tendé (tuareg tam-tam). After this entry, several pieces organize around a courtyard where life beats its full: sheep to fattening in the trench, stove on his small stool in front of his cauldron, naked children piaillant and chamaillant. From the courtyard there is a staircase which serves the floor: It allows the inhabitants to taste the night freshness on the terraces protected by the high walls, with a skeleton edge which lets the air pass. Interior parts are sometimes decorated but often in a sorry state: some niches and geometric and symbolic motifs in relief. However, these swarming areas do not have any sewage or running water, and disease is strict, especially in the evening, when the household washes off their waste and polluted waters in the midst of alleys. In particular, the house of the butchers'chef and the house of Mrs Damanaka Amar Kâ, both located on the edge of the square Tamallakoye, unfortunately obstructed today by a high-lying clinic with no charm and crépi of cement.

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 Agadez