Jean-Paul Lebeuf and Johannes Hermann Immo Kirsh's Ouara, ville perdue (Tchad) is a study of the elite palatial complex at Wadai's former capital, Wara. Unfortunately, the site does not seem to have received further investigation and one wonders about the current conditions of the palace, mosque, and other structures. As elite architecture made of bricks in the Central Sudan, one cannot help but wonder to what extent the earlier fired-brick building traditions of Kanem and Borno influenced Wadai. Lebeuf and Kirsch did not fully explore this question, but they raised a number of intriguing theories about parallels with Kotoko architecture and African royal architectural traditions.
Using the few written sources, oral sources, and past and contemporary plans, photographs, and sketches, the authors did endeavor a basic overview of the site. That said, given the paucity of written sources from the period when Wara was occupied by the ruling dynasty of Wadai, one must interpret the sources carefully. Nonetheless, a general overview is possible. The larger site includes an area attributed to the period of the Tunjur, but the site is most associated with Abd al-Karim and his descendants. A royal cemetery, a maison de marabout brick structure, the palace structure, elite residences for upper-echelon dignitaries like the djerma and the counsel hall structure are still impressive ruins. A partially ruined pyramidal structure on Mount Treya and a central tower that may have been an observatory aligned with the Pleiades indicate some intriguing possible motives for the site's design. Unfortunately, precise dating of many of these structures has not been attempted, although a brick from the mosque structure dated to 1796 was found. It would seem that successive kings of Wadai built or sponsored the construction of some brick buildings over the centuries the site served as a royal capital. Furthermore, it was likely not a large city, with its growth circumscribed by the mountainous terrain.
Despite its small size, the city's astronomical alignments for some structures and the larger cosmological and ritual significance of the space's design are worth exploring. The building remembered traditionally as the maison de marabout included a tower or column structure of brick. The authors speculate that this may also have been a symbol of the kingdom's axis. Indeed, the division of Wadai into 4 quadrants based on the cardinal directions with the center, or axis, at this structure was no coincidence. Furthermore, the Salle de Conseil with 4 sides, square-shape may have been another reference to the 4 provinces of the state: North, South, East, and West. While the authors may need further proof for the larger cosmological points about square and round buildings and towers as references to the land and the sky, possible similarities with the Kotoko states is not impossible. Clearly, part of the capital was designed for ritual reasons. For instance, the platform on Mount Trey was used for accession rituals of the Wadai rulers. The royal cemetery was also ritually significant, even though none of the tombs feature inscriptions.
Hopefully with the dating of fired-brick structures in Kanem, similar research can be undertaken for Wara. Even if the brick mosque was built in the 1790s, some of the other structures may date from the 17th or early 18th centuries. This late date also raises the question about influences from Kanem, Bagirmi and Wadai. The influence of Kanem-Borno in Wadai can be detected in areas like political titles, such as the djerma. The word birni was also used in Wadai to refer to the palace, perhaps another instance of political vocabulary (and royal architecture?) being influenced by Kanem-Borno. It is not inconceivable that rulers of Wadai also borrowed from the Sayfawa dynasty (and its successors in Kanem, the Bulala) brick structures for elite residences and mosques. A close analysis of brick construction techniques and architectural styles must be launched for Kanem, Wadai and Borno to verify this hypothesis. Massenya, the capital of Bagirmi, should likewise be thoroughly investigated.