The first Akan state
Techiman's story begins elsewhere. Bono Manso, founded around 1000 CE and the capital of the Bono state from the eleventh century to 1723, lay at the site of the present-day village of Manso, about 17 km north-east of Techiman on the Techiman–Kintampo road. It grew into a cosmopolitan trading town, drawing Muslim Juula merchants from the Mali Empire and traders from across North and West Africa, who brought textiles, salt and brass and exchanged them for gold, kola and slaves. The town was a key node in the trans-Saharan network that linked the Akan goldfields to Djenné and Timbuktu.
Historians and archaeologists suggest it was the gold of the Akan forest that drew traders from Djenné and Timbuktu southwards, and that organising the extraction and export of that gold required a political entity — Bonoman, the first Akan state and a model for the centralised polities that followed. In 1723 Opoku Ware I of Asante destroyed Bono Manso. A rump state survived at Techiman, which was founded in 1740 and remained an Asante vassal until the late nineteenth century. Techiman was itself destroyed in 1877 and its people fled to Gyaman; only in 1896 did Asantehene Prempeh I allow them to return. In 2018 a referendum created the Bono East Region, and Techiman was chosen as its capital.
One caution for the curious: Bono Manso is often marketed as the site of a vast slave market, but the historical record does not support that claim, and no evidence exists that it served as such, particularly for people destined for the Atlantic trade. The wider region's entanglement with slavery is real and painful; the specific label is a later invention. Visit with that in mind.
A town of many peoples and one loud festival
The Bono, also called Bonofoɔ, Brong or Abron, are an Akan people of central Ghana and north-eastern Côte d'Ivoire who speak Bono Twi and form one of the largest matrilineal Akan groups. According to Takyiman traditions they were the first Akan to develop a state. The name itself comes from Abono woo, 'pioneer or firstborn of the land', and Techiman-Bono oral tradition holds that the earliest ancestors emerged from a sacred cave called Amowi.
Modern Techiman is more mixed than that origin story suggests. The city's ethnic groups include Akan, Bono, Gonja, Dagomba, Sisala and Mamprusi, and its religions include Christianity, Islam and traditional African religions. That plurality shows most clearly in Apoo, held annually in March and extending into April. The word comes from po, 'to reject' — the rejection of evil, abominations, calamities, curses and worries. Oral tradition traces it to the reign of Nana Kwakye Ameyaw, an authoritarian ruler whose people could not speak freely; they consulted the gods, who told them to set aside days to say what was on their chests. During Apoo, it was agreed that no one could be held responsible for what they said.
In the days before, women clean homes, utensils and roads, and priests parade the streets in a rite called Nnusin-tuo to destroy malicious charms. Women collect white clay from the Aponkosu River in Hyereko, used to decorate shrines and to paint the bodies of priests and priestesses. The procession is led by the Paramount Chief, elders and court, and early on it visits the grave of the last Bonohene, where sheep are offered and libations poured. On Great Apoo Friday, elderly women parade at dawn shaking rattles and singing songs nicknamed akokobonee, 'cock-crowing'. The festival closes at the riverside, where river water is mixed with white clay and adwera leaves and sprinkled on shrines and people.
Sandstone, shelter and sacred ground
The landscape around Techiman is forest–savanna mosaic, and its most striking feature is rock. At Tanoboase, north of the city, sandstone formations rise out of the trees and have served the Bono as both fortress and sanctuary. The grove is believed to be the cradle and traditional home of the Bono people, and the rock shrine inside it contains the original brass pan and five compartments: the main entrance, durbar ground, hideout, watchtower and stairs. Legend holds that the deity Taakora appeared to Afya Ankomah with instructions that let the Bono live in the rock caves, on condition that no one hunted or farmed there. The caves sheltered kings and gave the people security during the slave trade and inter-tribal wars.
The grove is an active religious site, not a museum. It became a Community Based-Ecotourism Project in 1996, was selected as an ecotourism site in 2001 with support from the Ghana Association for the Conservation of Nature, and forms part of Ghana's material cultural heritage. The Bono East Regional Director of the Ghana Tourism Authority has said development work at the site was ongoing and near completion.
Water is sacred here too. The Tano River gives its name to several gods, and the grove's rites are bound up with it. At Asueyi, north of Techiman, an inselberg locally called 'Grotto' once sheltered the area's earliest inhabitants and was associated with a local deity, Atumkunu, before the Catholic Church acquired it in the 1970s and agreed to help build a new palace for the chief of Jemaa, where the shrine was relocated. Further north, the Bono Manso Waterfalls drop seven metres from enormous rocks into a tranquil plunge pool about 100 metres off the Techiman–Kintampo highway — a place that was, until recently, more a holy site for prayer than a tourist stop.
What to do
Things to do in Techiman
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Attraction
1.Tano Boase Sacred Grove
The essential Techiman visit. A trail through indigenous trees leads to sandstone caves and a rock shrine with five compartments — main entrance, durbar ground, hideout, watchtower and stairs — and the original brass pan. It is the cradle of the Bono people and an active site of indigenous religion, so you are walking through living heritage rather than a ruin. The formations are also genuinely dramatic, and the climb rewards you with views over the surrounding mosaic landscape.
Tip: This is a place of worship first. Dress modestly, ask before photographing shrines or priests, and follow your guide's lead on where you may and may not walk.
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Attraction
2.Our Lady of Calvary Grotto, Asueyi
A Catholic pilgrimage and retreat grotto built on rock formations north of Techiman, with Stations of the Cross set on the hilltops. The idea was conceived in 1966 by Op. Matthew Kwadwo Okrah after he attended a diocesan pilgrimage at Buoho; the site was acquired from the Jama Traditional Council in 1970, and the first parish pilgrimage was held on 14 September 1984. It became a diocesan shrine and pilgrimage centre, and in 1991 received its first rector. The hilltop setting and devotional atmosphere make it worth the climb even for non-Catholics.
Tip: Pilgrims come from as far as Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso, and the site is busiest around the Feast of the Assumption in mid-August. Go early in the day for quiet and cooler walking.
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Attraction
3.Bono Manso Waterfalls (Manso Waterfalls)
A seven-metre cascade in the Bono Manso community, roughly 100 metres off the Techiman–Kintampo highway, pouring from enormous rocks into a tranquil plunge pool. It is not a developed site, which is part of its appeal: you arrive without fanfare, and the water does the rest. Until recently it was treated more as a holy place where Christians came to pray than as a visitor attraction, and it is gradually becoming known as an ecotourism stop.
Tip: The site is undeveloped, so bring water, wear shoes with grip for wet rock, and take your litter away with you. Combine it with a stop at Manso village on the same road.
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4.Techiman Market
One of the largest outdoor food markets in West Africa and the engine of the city's economy, where most of Techiman's commercial life is concentrated. Yam is the trademark commodity, alongside maize, cassava, plantain and tomatoes drawn from Ghana's breadbasket region, and traders come from across Ghana and from Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Togo. The old market of the Bono kingdom stood at Dwabrem, near the present site of Techiman Senior High School; the modern market was established in the 1940s by Ɔmanhene Akumfi Ameyaw III.
Tip: Wednesday to Friday are the busiest trading days. Go with a local if you can, keep valuables close in the crush, and ask before photographing traders at their stalls.
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5.Manso village and the Ayaa Dasuo basin
The village of Manso, about 17 km north-east of Techiman on the Techiman–Kintampo road, stands on the site of Bono Manso — capital of the Bono state from the eleventh century until its destruction in 1723. A large brass basin known as Ayaa Dasuo, associated with the ancient Bono Kingdom and probably dating from the sixteenth or seventeenth century, is kept here. It is a modest place with an outsized history, and standing where a trans-Saharan trading town once stood changes how you read the whole region.
Tip: Treat the 'slave market' label you may hear here with scepticism — the historical record does not support it. Ask locally about the basin and the old town rather than repeating the marketing.
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Photo: SriMesh · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source 6.Apoo Festival
If your dates align, Apoo is the reason to be in Techiman. Held annually in March and extending into April, it ritually purifies the people and the land of social evils and is also a time for airing grievances, settling family disputes and holding leaders to account. The procession is led by the Paramount Chief, elders and court; priests and priestesses dance in raffia doso skirts painted with white clay; and on Great Apoo Friday the town converges on the palace. It is loud, funny, serious and unlike anything else in Ghana.
Tip: Apoo is a religious and civic event, not a performance. Watch respectfully, keep out of the path of processions, and never photograph ritual moments without permission.
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7.Kristo Buase Monastery at Tanoboase
A Benedictine monastery near Tanoboase, in the same belt of sacred rock as the grove. It pairs naturally with a visit to the shrine: the same inselberg landscape that sheltered the Bono and housed the deity Atumkunu now carries a contemplative Christian community. The contrast — and the continuity — is the point, and it makes for a quiet counterweight to the noise of the market and the festival.
Tip: Monastic communities keep a daily rhythm of prayer and work. Enquire locally about visiting times rather than turning up unannounced, and keep voices low on the grounds.
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Plan your time
Suggested itinerary
Half a day: the sacred grove
Start early and drive north to Tanoboase for the Tano Boase Sacred Grove, allowing a couple of hours for the trail, the rock shrine and the climb. On the way back, stop at Kristo Buase Monastery for a quiet half-hour. Finish in Techiman at the market, which is at its liveliest on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday afternoon. This is the tightest possible introduction to the city: rock, spirit and commerce in a single morning.
Tano Boase Sacred Grove→Our Lady of Calvary Grotto, Asueyi
One day: grove, grotto and falls
Take the full day. Begin at the Tano Boase Sacred Grove while it is cool, then continue north to Asueyi for Our Lady of Calvary Grotto and its hilltop Stations of the Cross. After lunch, push on to the Bono Manso Waterfalls just off the Techiman–Kintampo highway, and stop at Manso village to see where the Bono state's capital once stood. Return to Techiman for the market in the late afternoon. You will cover the region's three great themes — indigenous religion, Christianity and the old trading world — in one loop.
Tano Boase Sacred Grove→Our Lady of Calvary Grotto, Asueyi→Bono Manso Waterfalls (Manso Waterfalls)
Two days: add the festival and the north
Day one as above. On day two, if you are travelling in March or April, give the whole day to Apoo: watch the processions, the white-clay rites and the gathering at the palace, and let the town set the pace. Outside festival season, use the second day to go further north towards Kintampo for the waterfalls and canopy walkway, or south-east to the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, where black-and-white colobus and Mona monkeys are treated as citizens of the town. Either way, keep the evening free for Techiman's market and a slow meal.
Tano Boase Sacred Grove→Our Lady of Calvary Grotto, Asueyi→Bono Manso Waterfalls (Manso Waterfalls)
Seasons and festivals
When to go
Techiman has a tropical savanna climate with two wet seasons and one dry season. The major wet season runs from April to July and the minor one from September to October; the dry season begins in November and lasts until March. Annual rainfall ranges from about 1,260 to 1,660 mm, average temperatures sit around 28°C, and relative humidity is roughly 75–80% in the rainy season and 70–72% for the rest of the year. For dry roads and easy walking at the grove and the grotto, the November-to-March window is the most comfortable. The trade-off is that this is also when the harmattan can haze the views.
If you can, time your visit to Apoo, which falls in March and extends into April. It is the single best reason to plan a trip around a date rather than a season, and it turns an ordinary market town into the stage for one of Ghana's most unusual public rituals.
- Apoo Festival · March, extending into April
- A week-long purification festival celebrated in Techiman and Wenchi, and heavily associated with the Bono people. Apoo comes from po, 'to reject' — the rejection of evil, abominations, calamities, curses and worries. The days before see homes, utensils and roads cleaned, and priests parade the streets in the rite called Nnusin-tuo to destroy malicious charms. Women collect white clay from the Aponkosu River in Hyereko to decorate shrines and paint the bodies of priests and priestesses. The procession is led by the Paramount Chief, elders and court, and visits the grave of the last Bonohene, where sheep are offered and libations poured. On Great Apoo Friday, elderly women parade at dawn shaking rattles and singing akokobonee, 'cock-crowing'. The festival closes at the riverside with water mixed from river water, white clay and adwera leaves, sprinkled on shrines and people.
- Feast of the Assumption pilgrimage at Asueyi · 15 August
- The first diocesan pilgrimage to Our Lady of Calvary Grotto was held on the Feast of the Assumption in 1987, and the date remains the high point of the grotto's year. Worshippers travel to the hilltop sanctuary at Asueyi in large numbers, and groups also come from as far as Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso at other times of year.
Access
Getting there and around
Techiman sits at the crossing point of trunk roads from Sunyani, Kumasi, Wa and Tamale, which is why it has been a commercial hub for so long. It is about 51 km from Sunyani and about 105 km from Kumasi, and long-distance buses and trotros on the Kumasi–Tamale corridor pass through. The city is the capital of the Bono East Region, so it is well connected by road in every direction.
Most of the places worth seeing lie outside the city on the northern roads. The Tano Boase Sacred Grove and the Kristo Buase Monastery are near Tanoboase, north of Techiman. Our Lady of Calvary Grotto is at Asueyi, also north. The Bono Manso Waterfalls and Manso village sit on or just off the Techiman–Kintampo highway, with the falls about 100 metres from the road. Kintampo, with its waterfalls and canopy walkway, is further north on the same highway.
There is no practical way to reach the grove, the grotto and the falls on public transport in a single day. Hire a car and driver in Techiman, or join a tour, and agree the route in advance. Within the city, taxis and trotros cover the market and the main roads; for the outlying sites, arrange your driver to wait.
Good to know
Before you go
Techiman is a working city, not a resort, and the sites around it are mostly undeveloped. Bring water, sun protection and shoes with grip for wet rock and uneven trails. The Tano Boase Sacred Grove is an active religious site: dress modestly, ask before photographing shrines, priests or priestesses, and follow your guide's instructions on where you may walk. The same applies at the grotto, which is a Catholic sanctuary, and at the waterfalls, which until recently was used mainly for prayer.
Apoo is a civic and religious event, not a show. Watch from the edges, keep clear of processions, and never photograph ritual moments without permission. In the market, keep valuables close and ask before photographing traders. English is widely spoken alongside Bono Twi, but a few words of greeting go a long way. Finally, be careful with what you repeat: the 'slave market' label attached to Bono Manso is not supported by the historical record, and local people are better guides to their own history than marketing copy.
FAQ
Questions travellers ask about Techiman
Where is Techiman in Ghana?
Techiman is the capital of the Bono East Region and of the Techiman Metropolitan District, in central Ghana. It lies about 51 km from Sunyani and about 105 km from Kumasi, at the crossing point of trunk roads from Sunyani, Kumasi, Wa and Tamale.
What is Techiman known for?
It is known as the traditional capital of the Bono state, the first centralised Akan polity, and as a major commercial centre built around one of the largest outdoor food markets in West Africa. Nearby are the Tano Boase Sacred Grove, the Our Lady of Calvary Grotto at Asueyi and the Bono Manso Waterfalls.
When is the Apoo Festival held?
Apoo is celebrated annually in March and extends into April, lasting about a week. It is held in Techiman and Wenchi and is heavily associated with the Bono people.
Can I visit the Tano Boase Sacred Grove?
Yes. A trail leads from the entrance through indigenous trees to the sacred caves and rock shrine, and visitors are welcomed at a sign reading 'Welcome to Tano Sacred Grove, explore Bono culture'. It remains an active religious site, so behave accordingly and follow your guide.
What is the best time of year to visit Techiman?
The dry season from November to March gives the most comfortable walking conditions. The major wet season runs from April to July and the minor one from September to October. If you want to see Apoo, plan for March or early April.
Was Bono Manso a slave market?
The village is often marketed as the site of a massive slave market, but the historical record does not support that claim, and no evidence exists that it served as one, particularly for people destined for the Atlantic trade. Bono Manso was, however, a major trans-Saharan trading town dealing in gold, kola, salt, leather and cloth.
How do I get around Techiman and its attractions?
Taxis and trotros cover the city and its main roads, but the grove, the grotto and the waterfalls are spread out on the northern highways and cannot easily be combined on public transport. Hiring a car and driver in Techiman, or joining a tour, is the practical option.
Keep exploring
More destination guides
Sources for this guide (11)
- Techiman — Wikipedia
- Bono people — Wikipedia
- Bono Manso — Wikipedia
- Tanoboase Sacred Grove and Shrine — Wikipedia
- Apoo festival — Wikipedia
- Apoo Festival — Visit Ghana (Ghana Tourism Authority)
- Our Lady of Calvary Grotto – Asueyi — Catholic Diocese of Techiman
- A Brief History of Techiman — Nkwantananso Cultural Centre, University of Michigan
- "Grotto" — Our Lady of Calvary Sanctuary — Nkwantananso Cultural Centre, University of Michigan
- Bono East: Hidden gem of untapped tourism potential — Graphic Online
- Tanoboase Sacred Grove and Shrine — GhanaTRVL
Written September 29, 2026 from these sources and reviewed by the VisitGhana.app team. Confirm practical details locally before travelling.