Museum sights in Kumasi
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A
Manhyia Palace Museum
To get a feel for how a modern Ashanti ruler lives, visit Manhyia Palace and its museum off Antoa Rd, up the hill north from Kejetia Circle. The palace was built by the British in 1925 to receive Prempeh I when he returned from a quarter of a century of exile in the Seychelles to resume residence in Kumasi. It was used by the Ashanti kings until 1974.
On display is the original furniture, including Ashantiland's first TV, and various artefacts from the royals, including evocative photos of the time.More striking are the unnervingly lifelike, life-size wax models of the two kings and their mothers and of the most redoubtable queen mother, Yaa Asantewaa, who led the 1900…
reviewed
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B
National Cultural Centre Complex
The National Cultural Centre Complex is set within spacious grounds and includes a model Ashanti village; craft workshops where you can see brassworking, woodcarving, pottery making, batik cloth dyeing and kente cloth weaving; a gallery and crafts shop; the regional library; the tourism office; and the small Prempeh II Jubilee Museum.
The craft workshops aren't always active, especially on Sunday, and it's all rather low-key, but the grounds are shady and it's an agreeable place to spend a few hours including lunch at the restaurant in the complex.
reviewed
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C
Okomfo Anokye Sword
Okomfo Anokye Sword TheOkomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital is the unlikely setting for this small museum housing the Okomfo Anokye Sword, an important Ashanti monument. The sword has been in the ground for three centuries and has never been pulled out. According to Ashanti legend, it marks the spot where the Golden Stool descended from the sky to indicate where the Ashanti people should settle.
The sword is a symbol of the unity and strength of the Ashanti people and if anyone ever pulls it out, their kingdom will collapse. It's housed in a small yellow building with red Ashanti symbols on the outside walls. If entering the hospital grounds from Bantama Rd, veer to the right…
reviewed
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D
Prempeh II Jubilee Museum
Prempeh II Jubilee Museum may be small but the personalised tour included with admission is a fascinating introduction to Ashanti culture and history. Among the displays are artefacts relating to the Ashanti king Prempeh II including the king's war attire, ceremonial clothing, jewellery, protective amulets, personal equipment for bathing and dining, furniture, royal insignia and some fine brass weights for weighing gold.
Constructed to resemble an Ashanti chief's house, it has a courtyard in front and walls adorned with traditional carved symbols. Among the museum's intriguing photos is a rare one of the famous Golden Stool. The museum also contains the fake golden stool…
reviewed
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E
Armed Forces Museum
Fort St George and its Armed Forces Museum on Stewart Ave deserve a visit for the extraordinary collection of booty amassed by the West Africa Frontier Force, forerunner of today's Ghanaian army, with items looted from the Germans in Togo during WWI and, in WWII, from the Italians in Eritrea and Ethiopia and from the Japanese in Burma.
The fort, originally constructed by the Ashanti in 1820, was razed by the British in 1873 during the Fourth Ashanti War, and then rebuilt by them in 1896. The most interesting section relates to the British-Ashanti war of 1900, when the Ashanti, led by their queen mother, Yaa Asantewaa, temporarily besieged the fort, starving the British…
reviewed
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F
Kumasi Hat Museum
The top floor of the Nurom Hotel on Ofinso Rd is a monument to one man's obsession with hats. The owner, Chief Nana Kofi Gyemfi II, has assembled an amazing personal collection of more than 2000 hats from all over the world. Beginning with his first headgear, back in 1928, he now has an astounding, if dusty, collection of fedoras, sombreros, boaters, bowlers and much more. To get to the hotel, take any tro-tro heading north from Kejetia Circle to Suame Roundabout or catch a taxi.
reviewed
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G
National Cultural Centre Complex
The National Cultural Centre Complex is set within spacious grounds and includes a model Ashanti village; craft workshops where you can see brassworking, woodcarving, pottery making, batik cloth dyeing and kente cloth weaving; a gallery and crafts shop; the regional library; the tourism office; and the small Prempeh II Jubilee Museum.
The craft workshops aren't always active, especially on Sunday, and it's all rather low-key, but the grounds are shady and it's an agreeable place to spend a few hours including lunch at the restaurant in the complex.
reviewed