Travel Guide Niani

Niani is the former capital of the prestigious Mali Empire founded by Soundiata Keïta in the 13th century, which at the time extended over parts of present-day Mali, Guinea and Senegal. Today it is only a small village among others, located about 40 kilometers north of Mandiana. You can still see the remains of huts, the tree under which Soundiata used to sit during his palavers or the hill where he liked to walk. If you have a passion for history and a fertile imagination, it is worth the detour; for the others, it is, it is true, a little difficult to see in these places the capital of an empire.