Atar

Atar

The town of Atar in north-western Mauritania is the capital of the Adrar region and the main settlement on the Adrar plateau. It lies on the Oued Seguellil, and is home to an airport, a museum, a historic mosque built in 1674, a traditional weaving school and an important source of carpets. It is both an oasis and a caravan stop on the road southwest to Nouakchott, the national capital. The oasis is used for growing dates and grains, and for grazing cattle, sheep and goats. The mountains of the Adrar date from the Precambrian Tiris Zemmour, as opposed to the Primary Period. Stromatolites are also found near Atar. Nowadays, Atar is best known to outsiders as the entrance for visiting the ruins of the ancient Moorish cities of Ouadane and Chinguetti. This was one of the most important stops of the world's longest off-road race, the Paris Dakar Rally, organized every January. Accessible from Atar, Ouadane or Wādān was a staging post for trans-Saharan trade, as well as for caravans carrying salt from the mines of Idjil. The World Heritage Site old town, although in ruins, is still essentially intact, while outside its gates is a small modern settlement. Ouadane is the nearest town to the Richat Structure, a huge circular landmark that can be seen from space. This is an eroded geological dome 40 kilometers in diameter that reveals sedimentary rock in concentric rings of layers. Inside, volcanic rocks are exposed. It has been selected by the International Union of Geological Sciences as one of the top 100 geological heritage sites of the highest scientific value.