|
Yoruba Architecture
Yoruba architecture describes the architecture, architectural styles of the Yoruba people of West Africa, dating back to approximately the 8th century. and lasted up to and beyond the Scramble for Africa, colonial period beginning in the 19th century CE. Typical houses consisted of rectangular windowless single-room buildings arranged around a central courtyard ringed by verandas. Building styles resembled those of the Ashanti people, Ashanti, including construction from earth, wood, palm oil and straw bolstered by timber frameworks and roofed with thatched leaves and wood, or later aluminum and Corrugated galvanised iron, corrugated iron. Most medieval/pre-colonial Yoruba settlements were surrounded by defensive mud walls. Sungbo's Eredo, a series of such fortifications equipped with guard houses and moats, has been considered the largest pre-colonial monument in Africa, larger even than the Great Pyramid of Giza, Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt or Great Zimbabwe. After British colon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove
Osun-Osogbo is a sacred grove along the banks of the Osun river just outside the city of Osogbo, Osun State of Nigeria. The Osun-Osogbo Grove is several centuries old and is among the last of the sacred forests that once adjoined the edges of most Yoruba people, Yoruba cities before extensive urbanization. In recognition of its global significance and cultural value, the Sacred Grove was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. The 1950s witnessed the desecration of the Osun-Osogbo Grove: shrines were neglected and priests abandoned the grove as customary responsibilities and sanctions weakened. Prohibited actions like fishing, hunting and felling of trees in the Grove was done indiscriminately until an Austrian national named Susanne Wenger (1915-2009) helped to reinstate traditional protections. With the support and encouragement of the Oba (ruler), Ataoja (the royal king of the time) and the support of the concerned local people. Wenger "formed the New Sacred Art mov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
