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Burkina Faso world heritage sites

Kompienga province [capital = Pama]

W-Arly-Pendjari Complex near Kaabougou at W Burkina Faso National Park
It is home to the largest population of elephants in West Africa and most of the large mammals typical of the region, such as the African Manatee, cheetah, lion and leopard. It also harbours the only viable population of lions in the region.

Mouhoun province [capital = Dedougou]

Ancient ferrous metallurgy site in Douroula at N12 35 15.91 W3 19 44.34
Near the town are ruins of a smelting furnace and evidence of ferrous metallurgy dating back to the 8th century BC. This is the oldest confirmed metallurgy site in Burkina Faso discovered to date.

Nahouri province [capital = Po]

Royal Court in Tiébélé at N11 5 21.2 E0 57 42.7
Enclosed by a protective compound wall, the Royal Court consists of a set of buildings arranged in distinct concessions separated by walls and passageways leading to ceremonial and gathering places outside the compound. Built by the men of the Royal Court, the huts are then adorned with decorations of symbolic significance by the women, who are the sole guardians of this knowledge and ensure this tradition is kept alive.

Ancient ferrous metallurgy site in Bekui at N11 37 20.61 W3 53 30.99
Its five furnaces, of the underground or semi-underground type, are surrounded by a cord of slag several meters long, inside which there are other partition walls, also made up of heaps. The air supply system is the natural draft. The furnaces are built of cinder blocks using clay as a binder. Several dozen clogged wells have been counted.

Poni province [capital = Gaoua]

Ruins of Loropeni in Naritoma @
The dramatic and memorable Ruins of Loropeni consist of imposing, tall, laterite stone perimeter walls, up to six metres in height, surrounding a large abandoned settlement. As the best preserved of ten similar fortresses in the Lobi area, part of a larger group of around a hundred stone-built enclosures, they are part of a network of settlements that flourished at the same time as the trans-Saharan gold trade and appear to reflect the power and influence of that trade and its links with the Atlantic coast.

Sanmatenga province [capital = Kaya]

Ancient ferrous metallurgy site in Tiwega at N13 5 16.13 W1 8 40.92
The stoves work by natural draft of air. At a height of about 2.60 meters, the two best-preserved stoves have a frustoconical shape, the lower part of which is constructed with fragments of nozzles and a coating of clay soil, while the upper part uses fragments of slag.

Ancient ferrous metallurgy site in Yamane, Nartaoli at N12 49 19.12 W1 18 3.71
They are built with lateritic earth, fragments of nozzles and / or slag horizontally arranged. Many furnace bases, of different types, are visible, as well as scattered clusters of slag, mines and hummocks.

Yatenga Province [capital = Ouahigouya]

Ancient ferrous metallurgy site in Kindibo at N13 14 5.3 W2 10 51.4
The furnaces consist of successive circles 50 made with obliquely arranged earth flanges. The construction of these furnaces is located between the 10th and 11th centuries of our era by predagomba populations, prior to the Moosé. Stove bases, of a later type, attributable to the Moosé and dated after the 15th century of our era were identified, as well as of extraction, with ten (10) access wells, and an old habitat site characterized by mounds covered with shards. Near the site, a family of blacksmiths continues to perpetuate the knowledge related to the forge.