Ashanti gold — West Africa's mightiest royal city
Kumasi is the beating heart of the Ashanti Kingdom — one of West Africa's most powerful pre-colonial empires — and its energy is unmistakable: Kejetia Market is the continent's largest trading hub, the Manhyia Palace keeps royal tradition alive, and the streets smell of grilled tilapia, fufu pounding, and palm-oil-rich soups. Kente cloth, woven in villages around the city since the 17th century, remains one of Africa's most recognisable art forms.
Kumasi has been the capital of the Ashanti Confederacy since the warrior-king Osei Tutu established it around 1680, guided by the sacred Golden Stool said to have descended from the sky. The city resisted British annexation three times before falling in 1901, and the Manhyia Palace remains the seat of the Asantehene, one of the few pre-colonial royal institutions still functioning with full cultural authority in sub-Saharan Africa.