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Chinguetti is sometimes called the seventh holiest city of Islam. In any case, the city is one of the most important cities in the history of Islam as well as West Africa. It became a centre of Islamic, religious and scientific scholarship. In addition to religious education, schools taught rhetoric, law, astronomy, mathematics and medicine. The city has some of the most important medieval manuscript libraries in West Africa, most of which are privately owned. The area around Rue des Savants was once known as a gathering place for scholars discussing the finer details of Islamic law. Today, the abandoned streets reveal the urban and religious architecture of the Middle Ages. - Mauritania - 1970