This week’s World Heritage Site of the Week is way off the beaten path and has an interesting history. The ruins of Loropéni are located in  Loropéni, Burkina Faso.  The modern-day town of Loropéni is a market town. The nearby ruins are at least 1,000 years old, dating back to before Europeans arrived in Africa.

The ruins of Loropéni consist of walls over 6 meters high, surrounding what was once a thriving settlement. Who lived here? Why was it built, and why was it eventually abandoned? Nobody is quite sure, and much of the site has yet to be excavated and analyzed. However, it was almost certainly occupied by the local Lohron or Koulango peoples, who oversaw the gold trade in Africa from the 14th through 17th centuries.

Historians believe that the ruins of Loropéni had something to do with the gold trade. The site at Loropéni is the most well-preserved of a network of sites in the area, all of which seem connected to the mining of gold.

The ruins were added to the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites just this year.  You can learn more about them on UNESCO’s site.

If you’d like to visit the ruins at Loropéni, you will need to obtain a Burkina Faso visa. You have the option to obtain one at the border, but if you get one before you leave, you won’t have to waste time filling out paperwork at the border.

To get a Burkina Faso tourist visa, the following documents are required:

• 2 completed Burkina Faso visa applications
• 2 matching passport photos
• A copy of your round-trip plane tickets

Burkina Faso visas cost $100, and if you apply in advance the visa you get will be multiple-entry and good for 5 years.  If you are in a hurry, 24 hour service is available for an additional $50.

You don’t need an International Certificate of Vaccination for yellow fever to receive a Burkina Faso visa. However, you do need one to enter the country, so make sure that you bring it with you!

RushMyTravelVisa can help you research visa requirements and expedite visa applications for countries all over the world, including Burkino Faso.

To apply for a Burkina Faso visa, contact us today!

Tags: Burkina Faso, Burkina Faso visa, Loropéni, UNESCO

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 20th, 2009 at 11:30 pm and is filed under World Heritage Site of the Week. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.