Oualata
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Oualata (Arabic: ولاته) is a town in south east Mauritania. It was founded in the eleventh century, when it was part of the Ghana Empire. It was destroyed in 1076 but refounded in 1224, and soon became a major trading post for trans-Saharan trade and an important centre of Islamic scholarship.
Today, Oualata is home to a manuscript museum, and is known for its highly decorative vernacular architecture. It is also a World Heritage Site.
