Abomey, Benin.

2019-08-06/07 : Abomey, in the footsteps of the kingdom of Dahomey. Royal palaces and underground villages.


2019-08-06 : Visit of the Royal Palaces of Abomey.

Today our main focus is the Abomey Museum (Royal Palace), the main attraction in the city. It is 11:25 am when we ask two zemidjans in front of the porch of the hostel to take us there for 500 CFA each. It doesn't take ten minutes to get there.
Visiting the museum is free, but a small voluntary contribution is welcome and clearly expected.

In front of the Royal Palace of Abomey.

Photography in the palaces is prohibited. I wonder why.
I have to leave my photo bag in a small safe deposit box at the entrance. So I allowed myself to go snooping on the internet for the photos below.

We join a small group of a dozen Beninese tourists for the guided tour led by Jonas.
The site of the palaces of the kingdom of Abomey covers 48 ha, it has become a vast royal city in the space of 300 years, since the creation of the dynasty in the early 17th century, because unlike the tradition of the kingdom of Porto-Novo where the successive kings all lived in the same palace, here each of the kings had to build his own palace close to that of his predecessor. In all, 12 kings succeeded each other, so there were 12 palaces built. Built in earth, very few have survived over time, victims of rain and other weathering. Today only two of the last palaces remain, that of Ghézo (1818 - 1858) and that of his son Glélé (1858 - 1889). These are the two palaces that we will be able to visit this morning.
The visit is expertly led by Jonas, our guide, a graduate in history and archeology. In the beautifully renovated buildings are exposed all kinds of objects that belonged to successive kings. What we will remember from this visit is especially the particularly brutal and bloodthirsty aspect of the traditions and customs. Human offerings were common and all cults were very hungry for blood, preferably human one.
The kingdom of Dahomey was particularly hawkish because article number one of its "constitution" required that each king had to leave to his successor a kingdom larger than that which he had found when he took power. This is how this kingdom, originally small, became one of the greatest regional powers. One of the military peculiarities of Dahomey were the Amazons, particularly effective warrior women.
The kingdom was particularly enriched with the slave trade from the 17th century. Abomey did not have direct access to the sea and had to pay rights of way to cross the kingdoms of Allada and Ouidah. As these became more and more greedy, Abomey attacked them and took possession of them.

Thierry in a craft store in the Royal Palace of Abomey.

We take advantage of the canteen of a "mama" installed in the courtyard to regain some strength after the visit by ordering local dishes called wandzou, beans with fish and meat, all accompanied by a more or less spicy sauce. The price is ridiculous: 1000 CFA, a half baguette included!

We are regaining strength in the courtyard of the Palace.

 

The entrance door to the museum.

Frescoed wall representing the symbols of the different kings of Abomey in town.

2019-08-07 : Visit to the underground village of Agongointo-Zoungoudo close to Abomey.

In Abomey we met an adorable young family of artists: Arolando, Sonia and their two children Toto and Marie. They offered to take us by motorbike to the underground village of Agongointo-Zoungoudo today.

Toto, Arolando, Marie and Sonia

They are punctual and are accompanied by a second motorcycle (a zem) as agreed. We negotiate the zem at 3000 CFA (4.71 €), a trifle in consideration of the distance (2 x 15 km) and the time invested (between two and three hours). We are not talking about Arolando but I am determined to give him a little more to support his artistic projects.
Christine rides with Sonia and Marie on the zem while I board Arolando's motorbike with Toto. The trip takes half an hour.

On Arolando's motorbike

Christine, Sonia, Marie and the driver of the zem.

So we arrive at 11:30 am at the underground village of Agongointo-Zoungoudo. Entrance costs 2000 CFA per person plus 500 CFA for photography rights.

Christine and Denis, our guide

Denis will be our guide. The site where we are located covers 7 ha and includes 56 underground caves. But in reality, more than 1600 cellars have been discovered throughout the region of the Abomey plateau. These underground houses date from the 18th century but were not discovered until 1998 when the ground collapsed as a construction vehicle passed.
They would have served as refuges and hiding places for warriors of the time to protect themselves from attacks from neighboring kingdoms.

Underground refuge.

They are reached by vertical wells with notches in the walls as steps. They are generally provided with 3 cavities set back from the central well. An arrangement that kept noises and voices trapped inside the building.
The different houses were all independent of each other. No connection tunnel existed between them.
The guided tour follows a small path in dense, green vegetation. This vegetation protected the houses, not only by camouflaging the entrances and muffling the noises but above all by keeping animals and insects at bay and retaining rainwater. It was also this vegetation that air-conditioned the cavities in the earth where the hot and humid air would have been otherwise unbreathable as we will see by visiting the only house open to the public and which is not protected by vegetation .

On the way we stop at a sacred place, a voodoo altar at the foot of a venerable baobab tree. We have to take off our shoes to get close to it. The most impressive thing is not this altar but the battle waged by the baobab tree and a strangler fig tree which decided to attack it. It’s the first time we’ve encountered a baobab plagued by a strangler fig. In general, they choose more puny trees, although we could admire one at the botanical garden of Aburi in Ghana which had struck down a huge kapok tree. But a baobab is a different kettle of fish ! The baobab while magnifying bursts the roots of the fig tree which will reform a little wider. The outcome of the fight is very uncertain.

The altar at the foot of the baobab tree.

Strangler fig against baobab.

A little further on, in the center of a voodoo temple dedicated to an unknown deity is the access to the only house open to the public. Without anyone really knowing why it is forbidden to enter the temple dressed in red. We descend using a steel ladder but originally the inhabitants of the house simply used the notches cut in the walls of the well.

 

The house consists of three cavities arranged around the central well. There is also a cistern which collected runoff water.

Arolando and his family in the underground house.

We return by the same path to the reception. After taking a quick look at the souvenir stands we get back on our motorcycles to return to Abomey with a small technical stop to re-inflate the rear tire of Arolando’s motorcycle.

Toto, Arolando and Thierry.