The State House, up on Tower Hill and overlooking the downtown area, is an example of Freetown's old Krio architecture, which features brightly washed buildings and higgledy-piggledy window frames. This building incorporates the bastions and lion gate from Fort Thornton (built at the turn of the 19th century).
State House
Top choice in Sierra Leone
Nearby Sierra Leone attractions
1. Law Courts
0.1 MILES
The ornate Law Courts have been beautifully restored following considerable war damage. Located immediately east of the Cotton Tree.
2. Cotton Tree
0.11 MILES
Freetown's most famous landmark is the fat Cotton Tree, which looms large over the buildings of central Freetown. Rumoured to be hundreds of years old, it…
3. Sierra Leone National Museum
0.11 MILES
There are two galleries inside the Sierra Leone National Museum – one housing a collection of cultural and historical artefacts, including Temne Guerrilla…
4. St John's Maroon Church
0.17 MILES
St John's Maroon Church is a squat white building with big windows built around 1820. An example of the area's Krio architecture, it was built by returned…
6. St George's Cathedral
0.28 MILES
Built in the early 1800s, this grand cathedral provides welcome respite from hectic downtown Freetown, as well as an interesting insight into the city's…
7. King's Yard Gate
0.31 MILES
The ancestors of nearly all present-day Krios passed through King's Yard Gate, atop Tower Hill in the strategic military Martello Tower, built in 1805…
8. Old Wharf Steps
0.35 MILES
The Old Wharf Steps, sometimes erroneously called the Portuguese Steps, lead up from Government Wharf. The stones were set in 1818. Many of the new…