HALL OF MYRIAD PATHSVẠN ĐẠO ĐƯỜNGTiếng ViệtVIMaster Ưng Khiêm's site
HALL OF MYRIAD PATHS

Western Sahara

Tradition present: Islam

One place written in Western Sahara. Each carries its history, architecture, site and orientation, festivals, and the way to get there.

Places
1
written
Traditions
1
present
Regions
1
regions, cities
English
1
pages translated
Zaouia of Sheikh Ma al-Aynayn, Smara · Smara · IslamWESTERN SAHARAN

Each dot is one placeHover to see its name, click to open its page

IPlaces Written

All 1 pages now have an English version.

Islam · Smara · 1898Zaouia of Sheikh Ma al-Aynayn, SmaraAl-Zawiya al-Ma'iya, الزاوية المعينية بالسمارة, Old City of Smara

A sacred Sufi sanctuary, theological academy, and historic manuscript library founded in 1898 (1315 AH) in the Saguia el-Hamra oasis by the Qadiriyya and Fadiliyya scholar Sheikh Ma al-Aynayn, transforming Smara into the first stone-built city in Western Sahara with a sandstone Kasbah, a horseshoe-arched prayer hall, and over 5,000 handwritten manuscripts.

Historical and cultural monumentKhu thành cổ Zaouia, trung tâm đô thị Smara (Es-Semara), lưu vực Saguia el-Hamra, Tây Sahara

DirectionsView on mapRead its own page ›

Photo: Bertramz, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

IIHelp Us Build This

This library is open and free, and it records its own progress in public. Three things you can help with today:

  1. Name a place we missedA founding temple, a church, a mosque, a shrine the table above does not have. Send the name, the province, and one line on why it belongs.
  2. Send a photograph with an open licenceNothing is published without both the photographer and the licence. Your own photograph with your permission, or an openly licensed one, are both welcome.
  3. Report an errorA wrong date, a wrong Chinese name, a wrong lineage, a wrong address. A library that is wrong once is not trusted again, so corrections are very welcome.

Write to thayungkhiem@gmail.com

IIILog

  • 23/10/2026Seventeen historic sanctuaries, temples, grand mosques, cathedrals and UNESCO World Heritage sites in Vietnamese and English with openly licensed photographs are added across the final seventeen countries and territories (Taiwan, North Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Yemen, Ukraine, Belarus, Kosovo, Libya, Western Sahara, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and the Falkland Islands), completing 202 of 202 countries and territories on the Hall of Myriad Paths world map (661 sacred places, 505 with real photographs).
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?Quick Questions

Why are there no opening hours or ticket prices

Because they change constantly. A library that is wrong once about a practical detail loses its standing on everything else. Check with the place itself before you travel.

Where do the images come from

From Wikimedia Commons under open licences, each credited to its photographer, or photographed by UK MASTER ACADEMY. No image is published without both its author and its licence.

How were these places chosen

Four tests: it is officially listed as a heritage site, it belongs to a tradition this library covers, its site and orientation can be read in feng shui terms, and an openly licensed photograph exists.

Why is my country still grey

The library opens one country at a time, beginning with the countries that have the most readers, and within each country with its most significant places. A grey country is simply one whose turn has not come. Suggestions are welcome through the page of Master Ưng Khiêm.

›Read Next

Countries In The LibraryWorld map and the list of countries in the libraryIslamThe tradition behind the places listed here