The legacy of fragile manuscripts is exposed to destruction with the desert sand crawling on the ancient Mauritanian town. Lata is part of four fortified cities, or palaces, which was granted the UNESCO World Heritage Stations for its historical importance as commercial and religious centers. Today, these cities maintain a rich past monument from the Middle Ages.
He visited the famous Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta The city of Lata (called “Watten”) in the year 753 AH / 1352AD, where he stayed for nearly fifty days and spoke about its commercial role in the Mali empire, and the city witnessed a great prosperity in the 13th and 14th centuries AD, where it became a prestigious Arab -Islamic cultural center, attracted to it large numbers of scholars and thinkers from different regions such as Tombutto, Fez, Fez, Fez, Fez, Fez Marrakech and Tlemcen.
Throughout the Lata, mud facades permeate the doors made of acacia wood, decorated with traditional designs drawn by local women. Family libraries protect for centuries, which are invaluable records of the cultural and literary heritage inherited across generations.
However, near Walata from the financial borders makes it very vulnerable to the harsh desert environment. The burning heat and seasonal rains have left piles of stones and widespread holes in the walls of the historic city, which are particularly heavy rains that fell recently.
“Many houses have collapsed due to rain,” said Khadi, standing next to her collapsed childhood house, which she now inherited from her ancestors.
The decrease in the population has accelerated deterioration and latta. “The houses have become ruins because their owners left them,” said Sidia, a member of a national institution devoted to preserving the old cities in the country.
For generations, the population of Lata is steadily decreased with the departure of the population in search of work, leaving the historical buildings neglected. The traditional structures, covered with red milk brick known as “Panco”, were designed to bear the climate of the desert, but require maintenance after each rainy season.
A large part of the old city is now abandoned, except for about a third of its buildings. Sidia said: “Our biggest problem is desertification. And not covered with sand everywhere.”
According to the Mauritanian Ministry of Environment, approximately 80 % of the country is affected by desertification – an advanced stage of land degradation due to “climate change (and) inappropriate operating practices.”
By the eighties, the Watta mosque was submerged in sand. “People were praying over the mosque” instead of inside it, “Bashir Barric, a lecturer in geography at the University of Nouakchott.
Despite the indescribable sand and winds, they still maintain traces of their days as a major station on the route of the desert caravans and a famous center for Islamic education.
As the imam of the city, Muhammad bin Batti descends from a prominent dynasty of the scholars of the Qur’an and he is entrusted with nearly a thousand years of knowledge. The family library, which is supervised by 223 manuscripts, is the oldest of which dates back to the fourteenth century.
In a tight and crowded room, opened half a cabinet to display its precious contents, fragile documents dating back, surviving not less than a miracle.
“These books, at one time, were very poorly poor and exposed to damage,” said Bin Patti, referring to pages with water spots, and is now stored in plastic covers. He explained: “In the past, the books were stored in the boxes, but when it rains, the water leaks to it and the books are spoiled,” remember when part of the ceiling collapsed eight years ago during the rainy season.
Spain provided funding in the nineties to create a library in Lata, supported the restoration of more than 2000 books and memorized them digitally. However, the constant preservation of these documents now depends on dedicating a handful of enthusiasts such as Ben Batti, who does not live in the course of the year.
He said: “The library needs a qualified expert to ensure its management and sustainability because it contains a wealth of valuable documents for researchers in various fields: languages, Qur’an sciences, history, and astronomy.”
It hinders the isolation of the Lata, the development of tourism, there is no hotel, and the nearest town is two hours traveling through rugged terrain. The city’s location in an area warns many countries to travel to, noting the threat of rebel violence, increases the complexity of the horizons.
The anti -desert crawl efforts included planting trees around and latta three decades ago, but Sidia admits that these measures were not sufficient.
A number of initiatives were launched to save the Lata and the other three old cities listed together World Heritage List For UNESCO in 1996. A festival is held every year in one of the four cities to raise funds for restoration and investment, and to encourage more people to stay.
With the sunset behind the back of the back and the cold air of the desert, the streets of Lata are filled with the voices of children playing, and the old city briefly returns to life.