Ruins of Loropéni
The ruins of Loropéni (French: Ruines de Loropéni) are a medieval heritage site near the town of Loropéni in southern Burkina Faso. They were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2009. These ruins were the country's first World Heritage site. The site, which spans 1.113 hectares (2.75 acres), includes an array of stone walls that comprised a medieval fortress, the best preserved of ten in the area. They date back at least a thousand years. The settlement was occupied by the Lohron or Kulango people and prospered from the trans-Saharan gold trade, reaching its height between the 14th and 17th centuries. It was abandoned in the early 19th century.[1]
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
Remains of defensive walls, May 2016 | |
| Location | Loropéni, Loropéni Department, Poni Province, Sud-Ouest Region, Burkina Faso |
| Criteria | Cultural: (iii) |
| Reference | 1225rev |
| Inscription | 2009 (33rd Session) |
| Area | 1.113 ha (2.8 acres) |
| Buffer zone | 2.784 km2 (1.1 sq mi) |
| Coordinates | 10°18′37″N 3°33′46″W |
Location of Ruins of Loropéni in Burkina Faso | |
Excavation work
Gaoua town in Poni Province in Burkina Faso is considered the nearest town to the ruins of Loropéni. The archaeological site is overgrown by shrubbery and dense trees, making it hardly visible. The ruins walls stand at a height of 6 meters and expand at area of 11,000 square meters (approximately 2.7 acres), which piqued archaeologists and scientists interest in discovering what Loropéni ruins were meant to encompass beyond residents and abodes.[2]
Trans-Saharan trade
Loropéni is believed to have been set up by kingdoms in West Africa which strove to secure a foothold in the regional trade. Ghana Empire had a firm grip at that time on the gold mines in Bambuk and Boure, as roads leading from the mines headed into Koumbi Saleh, the empire’s capital, before proceeding north; and by law, all gold nuggets belonged to the emperor. The early Trans-Saharan routes did not interject the general area of Loropéni, but was close to the ancient city of Djenné, located to its northwest, and Timbuktu and Gao, located to the north; Timbuktu and Gao were termini for the Trans-Saharan trade. It was believed that Loropéni witnessed gold trade due to its proximity to the two Trans-Saharan termini.[3]
Theories behind the secret of the walls
The imposing height of the ruins walls was hence allocated to preserving gold inside the ruins, yet these deductions were made from circumstantial evidence.
Protection and Management
The Loropeni ruins are the best-preserved remains of the larger Lobi Ruins. The Committee of Protection and Management for the Ruins of Loropéni formed a good basis for management of the ruins as a focal point for sustainable development within the local community,[4] however the site was severely impacted by environmental conditions, including increasing rainfall variability and extreme temperature cycles.[5]
References
- "Ruins of Loropéni". UNESCO World Heritage List. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- "RUINS OF LOROPENI - BURKINA FASO". African World Heritage Sites. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- "The Ruins of Loropéni". Africa Global News. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
- "Ruins of Loropéni". UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
- "Loropeni Ruins". World Monuments Fund.
Further reading
- Somé, Magloire, and Lassina Simporé. Lieux de mémoire, patrimoine et histoire en Afrique de l’Ouest: Aux origines des Ruines de Loropéni, Burkina Faso. Archives contemporaines, 2014.
- Royer, Bertrand. Le fil d’Ariane du patrimoine. Du musée ethnographique de Gaoua au site UNESCO de Loropéni (Burkina Faso). Géographie et cultures 79 (2011): 109-125.
- Royer, Bertrand. "Patrimoine Mondial de l'Unesco et mise en valeur des ruines de Loropéni." Net et terrain: ethnographie de la n@ture en Afrique (2011): 94-122.