Sultan's Palace of Zinder

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Street-side view of the Sultan's Palace in Zinder (2007)
Inner courtyard of the Sultan's Palace with colonnades (1906)

The Sultan's Palace of Zinder is the seat of the Sultan of Zinder in Niger .

The palace is located in the center of Birni , the historic town center of Zinder. The palace area, which is surrounded by a wall, extends over an area of ​​around 1.2 hectares . It consists of several individual buildings. They are traditional adobe buildings . As a result, the numerous colonnades in the palace are characterized by a massive construction. Some external facades are decorated with relief-like patterns. The interior walls, some of which have niches, show no significant decorations. Together with the Great Mosque of Zinder , the Sultan's Palace defines the cityscape.

The palace was built between 1850 and 1852 by order of Sultan Ténimoun dan Sélimane and under the direction of the builder Mahaman Giwa. The Sultanate is the owner of the building complex to this day. The ruling sultan is obliged to live in the palace and to take care of its maintenance. About 450 people - dignitaries, guards and servants - stay here regularly. The Sultan's Palace is open to the public and serves as a venue for traditional festivals and ceremonies. This includes Hawan Kafou, the big butcher's festival, which is celebrated annually at the end of Ramadan .

The old town of Zinder, the district Birni and the Sultanate are since 2006 on the Tentative List for World Heritage in Niger entered.

literature

  • Anne-Monique Bardagot, Ali Bida: The conservation of the palace of the Sultanate of Zinder . In: Thierry Joffroy (Ed.): Traditional conservation practices in Africa . ICCROM, Rome 2005, ISBN 92-9077-191-7 , p. 38-47 .
  • Roberta Ann Dunbar: Damagaram (Zinder, Niger) 1812-1906: The History of a Central Sudanic Kingdom . Dissertation. University of California, 1971.
  • Pierre Mounier: La dynamique des interrelations politiques: le cas du sultanat de Zinder (Niger) . In: Cahiers d'Études africaines . No. 154 , 1999, pp. 367-386 ( persee.fr ).
  • André Salifou : Le Damagaram ou sultanat de Zinder au XIXème siècle . Dissertation. University of Aix-en-Provence, 1970.

Web links

Commons : Sultan's Palace of Zinder  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c La vieille ville de Zinder, quartier de Birni et le Sultanat. UNESCO Center du patrimoine mondial, accessed on February 13, 2018 (French).
  2. ^ André Salifou: Le Damagaram ou sultanat de Zinder au XIXème siècle . Dissertation. University of Aix-en-Provence, 1970, p. 190 .
  3. ↑ a b Jolijn Geels: Niger . Bradt, Chalfont St Peter 2006, ISBN 1-84162-152-8 , p. 217 and 222 .

Coordinates: 13 ° 47 '38 "  N , 9 ° 0' 7.2"  E