Heritage with Related Tags
Tomb of Askia
The Mausoleum of Askia is a pyramid-shaped building, 17 metres high, built in 1495 by the Songhai Emperor Askia Muhammad in his capital Gao. It bears witness to the power and wealth of an empire that flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries through its control of trans-Saharan trade, especially in salt and gold. It is also an example of the great tradition of earthen architecture in the West African Sahel. The complex, which includes a pyramid-shaped mausoleum, two flat-roofed mosque buildings, a mosque cemetery and an open-air assembly ground, was built when Gao became the capital of the Songhai Empire, after Askia Muhammad had returned from Mecca and established Islam as the state religion of the empire.
Lena Pillars Nature Park
The Lena Pillars Nature Park features spectacular rock pillars that are about 100 meters high and are located along the Lena River in the central part of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The pillars were formed by the extreme continental climate of the region, with an annual temperature difference of nearly 100 degrees Celsius (-60 °C in winter and +40 °C in summer). The pillars form rock buttresses separated from each other by deep and steep gullies formed by frost fragmentation along the direction of the intermediate joints. Water seepage from the surface promoted cryogenic processes (freeze-thaw) that widened the gullies between the pillars, resulting in the isolation of the pillars from each other. Fluvial action was also crucial for the pillars. The site also contains a large number of Cambrian fossil remains, including many species, some of which are unique.