Ghana

Navrongo Catholic Cathedral

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Navrongo Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church built in 1920 in the town of Navrongo in northern Ghana. The cathedral is 60 metres long and has a 13-metre-high bell tower. It was built entirely of mud bricks and plastered with mud mortar. The building is a mixture of European construction and African materials and design.
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Full Name
Navrongo Catholic Cathedral (ID: 1393)
Country
Ghana
Status
On tentative list 2000 Site history
History of Navrongo Catholic Cathedral
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Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org

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First published: 15/05/20.

Stanislaw Warwas

Navrongo Catholic Cathedral

Navrongo Catholic Cathedral (On tentative list)

Navrongo Catholic Cathedral by Stanislaw Warwas

Visited December 2010

Navrongo is a natural stop for those travelling from Burkina Faso to Ghana after visiting Cour Royal de Tiébélé (TL) and is a good starting point for checking two of Ghanaian TL sites: Navrongo mud cathedral, located in the outskirts of town, and Tenzug-Tallensi settlements, 40 km to SE. (While in the city, which is neither too big nor interesting itself, you can also visit Paga just right at the border 12 km to the N, with its crocodile ponds and Paga Pia’s Palace; if you still have a moment, there is a 18/19th century slave camp called Pikworo with pretty interesting and touching history.)

But here’s about the cathedral, 20-minute walk from the city centre… First impression: nothing special, well, looks modern. But when you realize that this biggest building in the area, built in the 20., was entirely built of mud bricks and then was covered with mud mortar and when you see its large colonnaded interior, you start thinking that this one is really unique one! Especially when you look at the dark interior (shutters were pulled down) with unusual decorations: animals, everyday life, Last Supper, geometric patterns, I mean the original way of expression, painted by local women using kerite oil and soil-based pigments, not usual in catholic churches in West Africa. The population in this part of Ghana is mostly Christian. (The short history of the cathedral can be read on Unesco website.)

In the premises of the cathedral …

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