Accra
— — the coast that watches the Atlantic come in slow.
Not only on a wall.
“The capital of Ghana, set along the Gulf of Guinea where the Atlantic comes ashore on a low coastal plain. The old quarter of Jamestown sits around its lighthouse and the 17th-century fort that gave the area its name, with fishing pirogues drawn up on the sand below. Independence Square, with its Black Star Gate, holds the open ground east of the centre. Makola Market runs hot and loud through the middle. Inland the city flattens out toward Legon and the university. from the studio
Accra, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, set on the Gulf of Guinea on the country's southern coast at roughly 5.6° north of the equator. It became capital of the British Gold Coast colony in 1877, replacing Cape Coast, and continued as capital when Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African colony to gain independence on 6 March 1957 under Kwame Nkrumah. The Greater Accra metropolitan area covers about 1,500 square kilometres and holds an estimated population of roughly 5 million, with the urban core sitting on a low coastal plain backed by the Akwapim ridge inland.
Jamestown grew up around James Fort, built by the English around 1673 on the coast next to the Dutch and Danish forts of Ussher and Crèvecoeur. The Jamestown lighthouse, the third on the site and dating in its current form to 1930, rises to about 28 metres and is the most photographed structure in the old quarter. Inland, Independence Square holds the Black Star Gate and a parade ground that seats roughly 30,000, completed in 1961 to mark the visit of Queen Elizabeth II. The Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, on the site of the old polo grounds where independence was declared, was designed by Don Arthur and opened in 1992.
Accra has two seasons rather than four: a major rainy season from roughly April through June, a shorter one in September and October, and dry stretches between. November through March is the most reliable window for visitors, though the dry harmattan wind off the Sahara can haze the coast in December and January. Kotoka International Airport, on the north side of the city, is the main entry point. Makola Market, near the southern centre, runs as the everyday commercial heart, while the cafes and galleries of Osu and the beaches of Labadi anchor the evening rhythm.