Larabanga Mosque

The Larabanga Mosque is a historic mosque, built in the Sudanese architectural style in the village of Larabanga, Ghana. It is the oldest mosque in the country and one of the oldest in West Africa, and has been referred to as the "Mecca of West Africa". It has undergone restoration several times since it was originally founded in 1421 (17th century according to some). The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has contributed substantially to its restoration, and lists it as one of the 100 Most Endangered Sites. The restoration works have revived the knowledge of mud-plaster maintenance.

The mosque has an old Quran, believed by the locals to have been given as a gift from heaven in 1650 to Yidan Barimah Bramah, the Imam at the time, as a result of his prayers. The mosque, built with mud and reeds, has two tall towers in pyramidal shape, one for the mihrab which faces towards Mecca forming the facade on the east and the other as a minaret in the northeast corner. These are buttressed by twelve bulbous shaped structures, which are fitted with timber elements.

Larabanga

Larabanga is a village in West Gonja district, a district in north western Northern Region of Ghana. The village is known for its whitewashed, adobe Sahelian mosque, said to date from 1421. It was at the height of the trans-Saharan trade. It is reputed to be Ghana's oldest mosque and houses a copy of the Qur'an almost as old.

The village is also known for its Mystic Stone, for its patterned vernacular architecture and as the entrance to the Mole National Park.

Legend of the Mystic Stone

During the British times, in Ghana there was a road that was laid near the Larabanga Mosque, a stone was removed during the process to make way for the road. The next day, the stone was found again on the same place it was displaced from. The stone was again removed from the way and the same thing happened the next day. Later, the officials decided to build the road around the stone and it became the mystic stone.

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