The Larabanga Mosque is believed to be the oldest mosque in Ghana and is built in the traditional Sudano-Sahelian architectural style (also known as “flat-footed adobe architecture”). It has undergone restoration several times since it was built in the 16th century. The World Monuments Fund (WMF) lists it as one of the 100 Most Endangered Sites.
According to a legend, an Islamic trader named Ayuba had a dream while staying here, near a “Mystic Stone,” instructing him to build a mosque. When he awoke, he found that the foundations were already in place and he proceeded to construct the mosque until it was completed. 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 mosque also has an old Qur’an, believed by the locals to have been given as a gift from heaven in 1650 to the imam as a result of his prayers.
