A weathered section of the ancient earth walls of Kano, cut into ridges by rain.
Heritage

Ancient Kano City Walls: Visitor and Heritage Guide

An earth wall with a fourteen kilometer radius, around a market and a palace that are still working. Kano is all but essential travel.
  • Country Nigeria
  • Category Heritage
  • Reviewed 20 August 2026
  • Sources 3
  • Length 1 min read

Credit Anasskoko, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Ancient Kano City Walls are on Nigeria's Tentative List, submitted in 2007. They are not inscribed, and this is Nigeria's own account of them.

⚠️ The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to Kano State, on the grounds of frequent banditry and violent attacks and a high threat of kidnap in the north west. Read the current advice before making any plan.

The current position

  • The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to Kano State.
  • It also advises against all but essential travel to Kaduna, Kebbi, Jigawa and Sokoto, and against all travel to Katsina and Zamfara.
  • It records frequent banditry and violent attacks and a high threat of kidnap in the north west, and that trains are vulnerable to attack.
  • The Durbar in Kano, a UNESCO-inscribed procession, takes place in this city. See our festivals article.
  • Read the FCDO regional risks page in full before traveling.

Sources

  1. UNESCO Tentative List: Ancient Kano City Walls and Associated Sites
  2. UK FCDO: Nigeria regional risks
  3. National Commission for Museums and Monuments

The description of the wall and the associated sites is from Nigeria's Tentative List submission, entry 5171, submitted in 2007. UNESCO's own index renders that entry title as "Ancient Kano City Walls and Asociated Sties"; the misspelling is the source's. Travel advice is from the FCDO regional risks page. All read on 20 August 2026.