Old Navrongo Catholic Cathedral Building

As the name suggests, this is a large Catholic Cathedral. Built entirely of mud bricks, and plastered with mud mortar, it is a thrilling mixture of European architecture and local construction techniques, and it is the last of its kind in Ghana. The building is 60m long and 14m wide, with a 13m high bell tower. There is a central bell tower over the entrance porch, with two smaller towers on each side. The floor is made of a mixture of compacted gravel, cowdung and dawa-dawa (yam bean). There are two rows of columns in the cathedral’s huge interior.

The roof is made of pitched corrugated iron sheets, and on the walls are an interesting mixture of Nankani-Kassena imagery and Catholic symbolism created by women in the Navrongo community, beginning in 1973.

The Cathedral is located in Navrongo, in the Upper East Region of Ghana. History has it that in April 1906, three missionaries, Father Chollet, Father Morin and Brother Eugene, arrived at the English military garrison of Navarro to evangelise. In 1907, a first small chapel was built, followed by a larger community chapel in 1910. The cathedral itself was completed in 1920 and worshippers were able to use the building for the first time.

The Navrongo parish grew in standing, becoming the Mother Parish in Northern Ghana, and attaining the status of a cathedral in 1934. The building, which has undergone many structural changes, is still used for worship.