Built in the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style, Larabanga Mosque is the oldest mosque in Ghana and one of the oldest mosques in West Africa. This mud-brick mosque takes its name from the village where it is located, but it is also referred to as the “Mecca of West Africa.” Larabanga Mosque dates back to 1421, and today, it is on the World Monuments Fund’s List of 100 Most Endangered Sites.
There are four entrances to the mosque: one each for the village chief, women, men, and the muezzin. There is also a baobab tree near the right entrance under which the ashes of Ayuba, the founder of the mosque, were buried. Moreover, the mosque houses a very old Kuran dating from 1650, and it is a pilgrimage site for Muslims in Ghana.
The mosque has a distinctive architectural style of two pyramidal towers (the minaret and the mihrab). The use of local materials such as reeds and mud in construction is also a characteristic of the Sudanic style. The horizontally aligned timbers strengthen the 12 conical buttresses on the external walls. Finally, the white washing of the structure gives it an amazing look.
