COUTURE NEWSLETTER

Get the latest Couture News & Luxe Updates delivered straight to your inbox.

Thank you for subscribing to the newsletter.

Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later.

14 Cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa to Add to Your Bucket List

Africa is a content rich in history and culture, most of which has been forgotten. However, a new generation of Africans are cropping up that are hungry to discover and identify with their lost cultural heritage. If you are one such person, but don’t know where to start, the UNESCO World Heritage Sites are a …

Africa is a content rich in history and culture, most of which has been forgotten. However, a new generation of Africans are cropping up that are hungry to discover and identify with their lost cultural heritage. If you are one such person, but don’t know where to start, the UNESCO World Heritage Sites are a great place to feed both your curiosity and wanderlust. Lamu Old Town (Kenya), Fort Jesus (Kenya), The Pyramids of Egypt, Robben Island (South Africa) and Stone Town (Zanzibar) are known to many, but there’s lots more to discover on the continent. In this article, we list 14 highly recommended Cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites to add to your Bucket List.

Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, Nigeria

The dense forest of the Osun Sacred Grove, on the outskirts of the city of Osogbo, is one of the last remnants of primary high forest in southern Nigeria. Regarded as the abode of the goddess of fertility Osun, one of the pantheon of Yoruba gods, the landscape of the grove and its meandering river is dotted with sanctuaries and shrines, sculptures and art works in honour of Osun and other deities. The sacred grove, which is now seen as a symbol of identity for all Yoruba people, is probably the last in Yoruba culture. It testifies to the once widespread practice of establishing sacred groves outside all settlements.

Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Ruins of Songo Mnara, Tanzania

The remains of two great East African ports admired by early European explorers are situated on two small islands near the coast. From the 13th to the 16th century, the merchants of Kilwa dealt in gold, silver, pearls, perfumes, Arabian crockery, Persian earthenware and Chinese porcelain; much of the trade in the Indian Ocean thus passed through their hands. The substantial standing ruins, built of coral and lime mortar, include the Great Mosque constructed in the 11th century and considerably enlarged in the 13th century, and roofed entirely with domes and vaults, some decorated with embedded Chinese porcelain; the palace Husuni Kubwa built between c1310 and 1333 with its large octagonal bathing pool; Husuni Ndogo, numerous mosques, the Gereza (prison) constructed on the ruins of the Portuguese fort and an entire urban complex with houses, public squares, burial grounds, etc.

Twyfelfontein, Namibia

Twyfelfontein or /Ui-//aes has one of the largest concentrations of petroglyphs (rock engravings) in Africa. Most of these well-preserved engravings represent rhinoceros. The site also includes six painted elephant, ostrich and giraffe, as well as drawings of human and animal footprints and rock shelters with motifs of human figures in red ochre. The objects excavated from two sections, date from the Late Stone Age. The site forms a coherent, extensive and high-quality record of ritual practices relating to hunter-gatherer communities in this part of southern Africa over at least 2,000 years and eloquently illustrates the links between the ritual and economic practices of hunter-gatherers.

Aksum, Ethiopia

Situated in the highlands of northern Ethiopia, Aksum symbolizes the wealth and importance of the civilization of the ancient Aksumite kingdom, which lasted from the 1st to the 8th centuries AD. The kingdom was at the crossroads of the three continents: Africa, Arabia and the Greco-Roman World, and was the most powerful state between the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia. In command of the ivory trade with Sudan, its fleets controlled the Red Sea trade through the port of Adulis and the inland routes of northeastern Africa.The ruins of the ancient Aksumite Civilization cover a wide area in the Tigray Plateau. The most impressive monuments are the monolithic obelisks, royal tombs and the palace ruins dating to the 6th and 7th centuries AD.

Old Towns of Djenné, Mali

Inhabited since 250 B.C., Djenné became a market centre and an important link in the trans-Saharan gold trade. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it was one of the centres for the propagation of Islam. Its traditional houses, of which nearly 2,000 have survived, are built on hillocks (toguere) as protection from the seasonal floods. The property is characterised by the intensive and remarkable use of earth specifically in its architecture. The outstanding mosque of great monumental and religious value is an outstanding example of this. The town is renowned for its civic constructions, with the distinctive style of verticality and buttresses as well as the elegant monumental houses with intricate facades.

Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lope-Okanda, Gabon

The Ecosystem and Relic Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda represents an unusual interface between dense and well conserved tropical rainforest and relict savannah environments.  A greater number of threatened species of large mammals find their last refuge in Lopé-Okanda than in any other comparable rainforest area in the Congo Rainforest Biogeographical Province.  The property also preserves a record of biological evolution over the last 15,000 years of the still extant rainforest-savannah transition zone. The Lopé-Okanda National Park also displays remarkable evidence for settlement stretching over 400,000 years from the Palaeolithic, through the Neolithic and Iron Age, to the present-day Bantu and Pygmy peoples. The National Park includes the River Ogooué valley, one of the principal migration routes for the diffusion of people and languages, including the Bantu, to Central and Southern Africa, in the Neolithic and Iron Age, as evidenced in extraordinary number of substantial settlements sites and an extensive collection of rock art petroglyphs.

The Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia

In a mountainous region in the heart of Ethiopia, some 645 km from Addis Ababa, eleven medieval monolithic churches were carved out of rock. Their building is attributed to King Lalibela who set out to construct in the 12th century a ‘New Jerusalem’, after Muslim conquests halted Christian pilgrimages to the holy Land. The churches were not constructed in a traditional way but rather were hewn from the living rock of monolithic blocks. These blocks were further chiselled out, forming doors, windows, columns, various floors, roofs etc. This gigantic work was further completed with an extensive system of drainage ditches, trenches and ceremonial passages, some with openings to hermit caves and catacombs.

Maloti-Drakensberg Park, Lesotho and South Africa

Maloti-Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site is renowned for its spectacular natural landscape, importance as a haven for many threatened and endemic species, and for its wealth of rock paintings made by the San people over a period of 4,000 years. With its pristine steep-sided river valleys and rocky gorges, the property has numerous caves and rock shelters containing an estimated 690 rock art sites, and the number of individual images in those sites probably exceeds 35,000. The images depict animals and human beings, and represent the spiritual life of the San people, representing an exceptionally coherent tradition that embodies their beliefs and cosmology over several millennia. There are also Rock art paintings dating back to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, are attributable to Bantu speaking people 

The Historic Town and Archaeological Site of Gedi, Kenya

Surrounded by a remnant coastal forest, away from the coastline, the abandoned city of Gedi was one of the most important Swahili cities on the East African coast from the 10th to 17th centuries. During this period, it was part of a complex and international network of trade and cultural exchanges that crossed the Indian Ocean, linking African coastal centres with Persia and other areas. The opulent settlement is clearly delineated by walls and features remains of domestic, religious, and civic architecture, and a sophisticated water management system. It strongly represents the characteristics of Swahili architecture and town planning, utilising materials such as coral rag, coral and earth mortar and wood.

Harar Jugol the Fortified Historic Town, Ethiopia

Often referred to as the “City of Saints,” Harar Jugol boasts over 80 mosques, vibrant markets, and a rich history as a center of Islamic culture and learning. The fortified historic town of Harar is located in the eastern part of the country on a plateau with deep gorges surrounded by deserts and savannah. The walls surrounding this sacred Muslim city were built between the 13th and 16th centuries. Harar Jugol, said to be the fourth holiest city of Islam, numbers 82 mosques, three of which date from the 10th century, and 102 shrines, but the townhouses with their exceptional interior design constitute the most spectacular part of Harar’s cultural heritage. The impact of African and Islamic traditions on the development of the town’s building types and urban layout make for its particular character and uniqueness.

Ruins of Loropeni, Burkina Faso

Situated near the borders of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo, the ruins have recently been shown to be at least 1,000 years old. The dramatic and memorable Ruins of Loropéni consist of imposing, tall, laterite stone perimeter walls, up to six metres in height, surrounding a large abandoned settlement. The settlement was occupied by the Lohron or Koulango peoples, who controlled the extraction and transformation of gold in the region when it reached its apogee from the 14th to the 17th century. Much mystery surrounds this site large parts of which have yet to be excavated. 

Kondoa Rock-Art Sites, Tanzania

On the eastern slopes of the Masai escarpment bordering the Great Rift Valley are natural rock shelters, overhanging slabs of sedimentary rocks fragmented by rift faults, whose vertical planes have been used for rock paintings for at least two millennia. The spectacular collection of images from over 150 shelters over 2,336 km2 , many with high artistic value, displays sequences that provide a unique testimony to the changing socio-economic base of the area from hunter-gatherer to agro-pastoralist, and the beliefs and ideas associated with the different societies. Some of the shelters are still considered to have ritual associations with the people who live nearby, reflecting their beliefs, rituals and cosmological traditions.

Island of Gorée, Senegal

The Island of Gorée testifies to an unprecedented human experience in the history of humanity. Indeed, for the universal conscience, this “memory island” is the symbol of the slave trade with its cortege of suffering, tears and death. The painful memories of the Atlantic slave trade are crystallized in this small island of 28 hectares lying 3.5 km off the coast from Dakar. Gorée owes its singular destiny to the extreme centrality of its geographical position between the North and the South, and to its excellent strategic position offering a safe haven for anchoring ships, hence the name “Good Rade”. The Island of Gorée is now a pilgrimage destination for the African diaspora, a foyer for contact between the West and Africa, and a space for exchange and dialogue between cultures through the confrontation of ideals of reconciliation and forgiveness.

Cidade Velha Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande, Cape Verde

The town of Ribeira Grande, renamed Cidade Velha in the late 18th century, was the first European colonial outpost in the tropics. Located in the south of the island of Santiago, the town features some of the original street layout impressive remains including two churches, a royal fortress and Pillory Square with its ornate 16th century marble pillar. The urban, maritime and landscape of Ribeira Grande provides eminent testimony to the origins and the development of over three centuries of Atlantic trade of enslaved persons in modern times and its relationships of domination. The mixing of human races and the meeting of African and European cultures gave birth to the first Creole culture.

There are 61 cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites, with an additional 42 natural properties and 5 sites considered mixed (both cultural and natural), so this is by no means a conclusive list, but a great place to start. Add these 14 sites to your travel bucket list and embark on a journey to explore Africa’s unparalleled heritage.

If you are more of a nature lover, check out the 10 UNESCO World Heritage Sites to Explore: Discover Africa’s Natural Wonders.

Sourced from UNESCO World Heritage Convention.

Join the Club

Like this story? You’ll love our monthly newsletter.

Thank you for subscribing to the newsletter.

Oops. Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Couture Africa

Couture Africa

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *