Chinguetti was founded over 700 years ago and for a long time it was a great meeting point for travellers crossing the Sahara. Camel caravans from all directions would stop here to trade, swap news, and exchange ideas. Scholars brought books and hand-copied them to share knowledge - maths, astronomy, medicine, poetry, and stories.
The old manuscripts are written on gazelle skin and fragile paper in neat Arabic script, sometimes decorated with coloured inks. Some books are tiny enough to fit in a pocket; others are as heavy as a school bag. Families in Chinguetti have looked after these books for generations, keeping them in wooden chests away from sand and sunlight.
The town is built from dried mud bricks and looks almost the same colour as the surrounding desert - ochre and sand-gold. The most famous building is an ancient tower mosque with an egg-shaped tip decorated with ostrich eggs, which have been used as decorations in desert architecture for centuries.
Sadly, the desert is slowly moving closer to Chinguetti as sand dunes drift into the streets. Scientists and local people work together to plant grasses and build sand barriers to push back the dunes and protect these wonderful buildings and books.