Ghana is blessed with so much tourist sites.
Some of these have a historical significance to them whiles some are just nature. Today we take you on a ride to visualize some of the historical buildings in Ghana.
We might not be able to exhaust the whole list so do well and hit us up if there’s one that we forgot.
1. James Fort
It was built by the British in 1673 as a trading post. It’s name comes from it’s neighborhood, James Town. It also later became a remand prison but that was abandoned in 2008.
image:Thetourers.com
2. Kumasi Fort And Military Museum
This is located in the Uaddara Barracks in Kumasi. It is one of a few military museums in Africa. The Fort was built in 1820 by the Asantehene, Osei Tutu Kwamina, to resemble the coastal forts which were built by European merchants. It was built from granite and brown soil brought from Cape Coast to Kumasi by porters.
From 1952 to 1953, after the Second World War, the Armed Forces of the British Colonial Government took over the fort and converted it into a museum. On display in the museum are military equipment, artefacts and other objects used in the British-Asante war of 1990 and during the Second World War.
image:panoramio.com
3. James Town Light House
This is located in Old Accra, that is the districts of Jamestown and Usshertown in the Greater Accra region. The original Jamestown Light, built by the British at James Fort in 1871 was replaced in the 1930s by the current Accra Light which stands at 28 m (92 ft) tall. The light, which is 34 metres (112 ft) above sea level, has a visibility of 16 nautical miles (30 km).
Standing on top of the lighthouse gives one a clear view of the ocean and central Accra.
image:monocle.com
4. Christianborg Castle (Osu Castle)
Known popularly as the Osu castle, it was built by Denmark-Normay in the 1960’s. For most of it’s history, the castle was used as the seat of government. The last President to live there was President Mills.
The castle changed hands between Denmark-Norway, Portugal, the Akwamu, British and finally post-Independence Ghana. It has been rebuilt several times.
image:adomonline.com
5. Elmina Castle
It was built in 1482 by the Portuguese in the town of Elmina in the Central region. It was the first trading point on the Gulf of Guinea, so it is the oldest European building in existence below the Sahara. Originally established as a trade settlement, the castle later became one of the most important stops on the route of the Atlantic slave trade.
The castle acted as a depot where slaves were to the Portuguese traders by local chiefs and Kings in exchange for goods such as textiles and horses. The slaves are then held captive in the castle before being led through the infamous “Door of No Return”, unto slave ships and sent across the ocean to be resold in other Portuguese colonies.
6. Cape Coast Castle
The Cape Coast castle is one of the many castles deeply embroiled in the history of slave trade in Ghana. It was originally built by the Swedes for timber and Gold trading but was later used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Since the slave business was very lucrative at the time, modifications were made to the castle for it to be used as a slave trading fort. One of the such modifications was the addition of large underground dungeons that could hold as many as thousand slaves awaiting export. Till date, the stench of human blood mixed with urine and feaces can still be felt in the dungeons.
image:YouTube
7. Larabanga Mosque
The Larabange mosque is accredited as the oldest mosque in Ghana and one of the oldest in West Africa. It has infact been labelled as the “Mecca” of West Africa. The mosque is built of mud and reeds and it was originally founded in 1421. It has gone through a lot of restoration to prefer it. It is situated in Larabanga in the West Gonja district of the Northern Region.
image:TheOutlook.com
8. Navrongo Catholic Cathedral
This is a Catholic cathedral built entirely of mud bricks and plastered with mud mortar. It’s floor is made of a mixture of compacted gravel, cow dung and dawa-dawa (yam bean). It is a beautiful fusion of European culture and local construction techniques.
According to history, in April 1906, three missionaries, Father Chollet, Father Morin and Brother Eugene, arrived at the English military garrison of Navarro to evangelise. In 1907, a first small chapel was built, followed by a larger community chapel in 1910. The cathedral itself was completed in 1920 and worshipers were able to use the building for the first time.
This historic edifice is located in Navrongo in the Upper East region of Ghana.
Top 8 Historic Buildings In Ghana
No comments:
Post a Comment