Asante Traditional Buildings

The Asante Traditional Buildings are ten shrines, or fetish houses, around the city of Kumasi in central Ghana: Abirim, Asawase, Asenemaso, Bodwease, Ejisu Besease, Adarko Jachie, Edwenase, Kentinkrono, Patakro and Saaman. Most lie north-east of Kumasi, and only Patakro lies to the south. They are the last surviving buildings of the Asante civilisation, which reached its height in the 18th century.

The buildings stand around courtyards and are made of timber and bamboo plastered with mud, under roofs that were originally thatched. Each shrine has four rooms facing a central courtyard on a raised plinth: three were used for ritual, and the fourth held the shrine itself, where access was restricted. The walls carry bas-reliefs of spirals, arabesques, animals, birds and plants, linked to Adinkra symbols whose meanings have been passed down through generations.

As the kingdom fell in the course of its wars with Britain in the 19th century, most Asante buildings of the period were destroyed. These ten survived because traditional religion is still practised in them, and people still come to consult the deities before important decisions. They were inscribed in 1980.