Timbuktu is the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mali that became a major medieval center of Islamic learning and trans-Saharan trade.
Timbuktu grew near the southern edge of the Sahara, where desert routes met the Niger River floodplain. Its location helped merchants exchange salt, gold, manuscripts, and other goods across West Africa. The city reached particular prominence under the Mali and Songhai empires, especially from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries.
Its best-known historic monuments include the Djinguereber Mosque, Sankore Mosque, and Sidi Yahya Mosque. Timbuktu also became famous for manuscript culture: scholars and families preserved large collections covering religion, law, science, medicine, and literature.
The UNESCO property is the Historic Centre of Timbuktu, not a single building. The city is sometimes portrayed as an isolated desert settlement, but its importance came from its connections to riverine agriculture, caravan routes, royal states, and scholarly networks. UNESCO inscribed the historic center in 1988.