The Larabanga Mosque is a 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 founded in 1421. 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
According to a legend, in 1421, an Islamic trader named Ayuba had a dream while staying here, near a “Mystic Stone”, instructing him to build a mosque. Strangely, when he awoke, he found that the foundations were already in place and he proceeded to construct the mosque until it was completed. There is a belief that he left instructions that he should be buried close to the mosque and that after three days, the baobab which would shoot up on his grave was to be preserved from generation to generation. The baobab tree next to the mosque today is reputed to mark the site of Ayuba’s grave. The townsfolk of Larabanga supposedly depend on the leaves and stem of this baobab tree for healing of ailments.
Unlike mosques situated in urban settings in West Africa, the Larabanga Mosque is comparatively small. Rural mosques, like Larabanga’s, were usually conceived by a single marabout and loosely based on styles seen elsewhere such as in the Great Mosque of Djenné . In order to achieve a physical resemblance to the architecture used elsewhere, the Larabanga Mosque had to incorporate large buttresses in order to compensate for the poorer quality of building materials. Larabanga is one of eight ancient and highly revered mosques in Ghana, and is also the oldest. It is a place of pilgrimage and is considered the Mecca of West Africa.
In the 1970s, a mixture of sand and cement was applied to the external faces of the mosque with the intention of protecting the mosque from wind and rain damage. However, this treatment resulted in substantial damage to the building as moisture became trapped in the walls built of mud and started a deterioration process of the structure, with termites infesting the wooden supports under humid conditions.