Estimated to be 11-16th Century
Its imposing stone walls ruins of Loropéni consist of imposing, tall, laterite stone perimeter walls, up to six metres in height is the best preserved of ten fortresses in the Lobi area and is part of a larger group of 100 stone enclosures that bear testimony to the power of the trans-Saharan gold trade. 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.
Source:weloveyatours.blogspot.com
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. The settlement seems to have been abandoned during some periods during its long history. The property which was finally deserted in the early 19th century is expected to yield much more information.
Ruins of Loropéni – UNESCO World Heritage Centre
A conservator assesses a rampart of the Loropeni Ruins in Burkina Faso damaged by tree growth. The ruins were placed on the 2008 Watch and, following listing, WMF developed a conservation plan.
In addition to addressing the urgent structural repairs of the ruins, the focus of the project is to develop a management system to eliminate the risks of continuing damage, preserve the historic value of the site, and encourage economic development in and around Loropeni.
Ruins of Loropéni
The 11,130m2 property, the first to be inscribed in the country, with its imposing stone walls is the best preserved of ten fortresses in the Lobi area and is part of a larger group of 100 stone enclosures that bear testimony to the power of the trans-Saharan gold trade. 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 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. The settlement seems to have been abandoned during some periods during its long history. The property which was finally deserted in the early 19th century is expected to yield much more information.
Craftspeople from neighboring villages have participated in the planning and conservation work and local cultural agencies have developed plans for site interpretation and maintenance.
www.africanworldheritagesites.org
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A conservator assesses the central section of the western rampart of Loropeni Ruins at Burkina Faso. The ruins are the best-preserved remains of the larger Lobi Ruins. Due to their local spiritual importance, the community has maintained the site over time. The ruins were a Watch site and a WMF project to preserve their integrity.
Aerial view from the southern side of the Loropeni Ruins at Burkina Faso. Spanning lands that cross the modern borders of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana, the Loropeni ruins are part of the larger Lobi Ruins, a 120-mile-by-60-mile cultural landscape, created between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. This area served as a refuge for various ethnic groups migrating from the south, and became a center for gold mining and an important commercial trade route for goods as well as slaves. The Loropeni ruins consist of a massive (2.5 acres) quadrangular-shaped stone and earthen rampart complex, including walls that reach 20 feet high and almost four feet wide in places. The ruins were a Watch site and WMF project.
https://www.wmf.org/project/loropeni-ruins
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