This week's World Heritage Site of the Week is way off the beaten path and has an interesting history. The ruins of Loropéni are located in  Loropéni, Burkina Faso.  The modern-day town of Loropéni is a market town. The nearby ruins are at least 1,000 years old, dating back to before Europeans arrived in Africa. The ruins of Loropéni consist of walls over 6 meters high, surrounding what was once a thriving settlement. Who lived here? Why was it built, and why was it eventually abandoned? Nobody is quite sure, and much of the site has yet to be excavated and analyzed. However, it was almost certainly occupied by the local Lohron or Koulango peoples, who oversaw the gold trade in Africa from the 14th through 17th centuries. Historians believe that the ruins of Loropéni had somet

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