Also known as Black Star Square, this vast ceremonial plaza on the seafront is the second-largest of its kind in the world, after Tiananmen. The Independence Arch and the Black Star Gate frame the space, with the eternal flame burning at the centre. Empty most days, it comes alive on national holidays with parades, drumming, and the full kit of Ghanaian state ceremony. Worth a wander any time for the scale and the sea views.
Independence Square
Vast seafront plaza marking Ghana's independence
A story
The black star atop the gate was lifted from the flag of Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line, the steamship company Garvey founded in 1919 to ferry African Americans back to Africa. Nkrumah, who had read Garvey closely as a student in the United States, made it the symbol of an independent Ghana.