Western Africa
Discover Asante Traditional Buildings, Cape Coast Castle courtyard, Independence Arch and more.
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architecture
Near Kumasi, surviving Asante traditional buildings include shrines arranged around courtyards. Timber, bamboo and mud plaster form their fabric. Raised wall decorations depict plants, animals and other motifs with symbolic meanings passed between generations. These buildings preserve architectural knowledge as well as places of continuing religious significance.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Centre
history
Cape Coast Castle was used in the transatlantic trade in enslaved people. Today its museum and surviving spaces help visitors confront that history and remember the lives affected.
Source: gmmb.gov.gh
architecture
Independence Square contains several different national monuments. Its southern Independence Arch is distinct from the Black Star Gate on the roundabout to the north.
Source: visitghana.com
history
The mausoleum houses the remains of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, and his wife Fathia. Architect Don Arthur gave it a distinctive sculptural marble form crowned by a black star.
Source: knmp.gov.gh
architecture
Larabanga Mosque is a living religious building made in the Sudano-Sahelian tradition. Its whitewashed buttresses, pyramidal towers and projecting timber elements give the small structure its distinctive silhouette.
Source: visitghana.com
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