Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, Catholic cathedral and minor basilica in Navrongo, Ghana.
Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows is a Catholic church in Navrongo that combines European and West African architectural approaches. The structure uses mud construction with local materials, blending design elements from both traditions.
Three French-Canadian White Fathers founded a mission on the site of a British military base in 1906, building a chapel in 1907 and a larger provisional church in 1910. The permanent church was built in 1920, the first large building in the region. It became a cathedral in 1934, the seat of the new Diocese of Navrongo in 1956, and a minor basilica under Benedict XVI in 2006.
The interior decoration was begun in the early 1970s by Kizito Avereyire and carried out by local artists of the Kassena-Nankana District. They painted animals and scenes of daily life in the local style, alongside New Testament scenes of the Nativity and the Last Supper at the entrance.
The compound serves as a central location for religious ceremonies and community gatherings in the district. It functions as an active place of worship and social gathering for the surrounding area.
The cathedral has stood on Ghana's tentative UNESCO World Heritage list since 2000. Its mud walls were hardened with a mix of earth, cow dung and a fruit extract, giving a waterproof render that earned it the name Mud Cathedral.
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