Welcome to Accra, the capital and largest city of Ghana, on the southern coast where the land meets the Gulf of Guinea. The city grew from separate settlements around three European forts: British Fort James, Dutch Fort Crèvecoeur and Danish Fort Christiansborg, which became Jamestown, Usshertown and Christiansborg. Accra was the capital of the British Gold Coast from 1877 until independence in 1957, and its streets still mix 19th-century colonial buildings with modern towers. Today it anchors a metropolitan area of about 4 million people. Let us begin where independence was declared.
Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park
Photo: Erik B. Anderson · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsIn downtown Accra lies the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, on the site of the former British colonial polo grounds. It was here that Nkrumah declared Ghana's independence. At the centre stands his mausoleum, where he rests with his wife Fathia. The building represents an upside-down sword, a symbol of peace in Akan culture, and it is clad in Italian marble with a black star at its peak, symbolising unity. Water surrounds it as a symbol of life, and a skylight lets light fall onto the grave inside.
Black Star Square
Photo: Rjruiziii · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsNow you stand in Black Star Square, also called Independence Square, the stage for Ghana's great national occasions. Kwame Nkrumah, who led the country to independence from Britain, commissioned it to celebrate that achievement, and the Ghanaian architect Theo Lawson designed it. It was completed in 1961, in time for the state visit of Queen Elizabeth the Second. Every year on 6 March, the Independence Day parade marches across this vast open space.
Osu Castle
Photo: Twi inaccr · CC0 · Wikimedia CommonsOn the coast in the Osu neighbourhood stands Osu Castle, also known as Fort Christiansborg. Denmark-Norway built a substantial fort here in the 1660s, and it later passed between Portugal, the Akwamu, Britain and finally independent Ghana. Under Danish-Norwegian rule it was the capital of the Danish Gold Coast, and enslaved people were held here and shipped overseas. From 1902 it was the seat of government. As a testimony to colonial influence and the Atlantic slave trade, it joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.
Jamestown Lighthouse
Photo: Teemages · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsIn the old Jamestown district stands Jamestown Lighthouse, a stone tower painted in bold red and white bands, about 28 metres tall. It was built in 1932, replacing an earlier lighthouse from 1871 on the same site, as growing sea traffic called for something larger. Attached to the tower is the keeper's house. Its light shines about 35 metres above sea level and can be seen up to 10 nautical miles away, guiding vessels into the port of Accra.
Makola Market
Photo: Benggriff · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsPlunge into the bustle of Makola Market in the centre of Accra, where you can buy almost anything, from car parts to land snails. The market is dominated by women traders, selling fresh produce, clothes, shoes, tools, pots and pans, and jewellery made from locally handcrafted beads. Makola was built in 1924 and became the heart of trade in the country. On 18 August 1979 it was destroyed, when the government of the day ordered its demolition, but the market lives on as a centre of city life.
National Museum of Ghana
Photo: Sathyan Velumani · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsStep into the National Museum of Ghana, the largest and oldest of the six museums run by the country's Museums and Monuments Board. It opened on 5 March 1957, just before Independence Day, as part of the celebrations of Ghana's independence. Its collection of about 10,000 objects spans archaeology, ethnography and fine art. The roots of the collection go back to an anthropology museum at Achimota College, which hosted the first preservation of West African artefacts in the country.
Lomakuume
