Abomey, Benin (December 2016)

On our return south we spent a couple of days in Abomey, capital of the Dahomey empire. The city was really spread out, on account of the various kings' palaces as well as training palaces built around town.

Market for princesses and wives of kings. The citizenry weren't permitted to see them, so King Agadja (1711-1742) created this market so they could still shop for needed items. The market also housed a divinity that protected the site from unfortunate events.

We took a tour with Bonaventure, visiting several of the kings' palaces. We also checked out a few "palais privés" - training palaces or finishing schools for princes. The palais privés are empty as no one can agree on who should live in them.

"Let's unite for the viability of our palace."

A colonial site that we visited was the "Cercle" - the campement (camp/base) of the French. The building was built in 1928 as the French didn't eat local fare and "needed a hygienic base" for their food and their bodies. Access by Beninois to the camp was banned until independence in 1960, as the French also feared they would poison them. The cercle was one of the colonial subdivisions and French administrators were based in another building on these grounds.

Le Cercle / Le campement des Français.

We also passed by Cathédrale Saints Pierre et Paul, built by the Portuguese in 1721 with the approval of King Agadja. The Portuguese were instrumental in the early trans-Atlantic slave trade, and found in the Dahomey empire willing intermediaries. The first church built for the kingdom was constructed in the private palace of king Guezo (1818-1858), who was later baptized Joseph and married a Portuguese woman following his conversion.

Agbodo: Pit of fortification of the city. The pit and walls extended for 10 km around the core of the kingdom. The pit was apparently filled with poisonous plants and wild animals.

Bonaventure and Blair outside one of the many palaces of Abomey - this one for king Houegbadja.

King Houegbadja (1645-1685) was the founder of the Dahomey kingdom. He expanded the kingdom without waging war, instead forming political agreements with people indigenous to the areas he ended up controlling. Houegbadja's symbols were the fish, the net, and the hoe. He wanted these symbols to show that he wouldn't be trapped, he was cunning, and he was ready to defend himself.

These informative signs are all over Abomey (and Benin in general)!

The queen Hangbe, daughter of Houegbadja and twin of king Akaba, took power after Akaba's death. She created the famed Amazon corps, but abdicated under pressure from royals who wouldn't accept a female on the throne. Her brother and predecessor created a new saber for decapitating his enemies, and encouraged diverse forms of crafts including cutting of precious stones, embroidery, pottery, and dyeing of fabric!

King Gbehanzin was the last king of Dahomey (1890-1894). He's depicted here turning away the foreign invaders. He went to see the French to pursue a truce, but was exiled to Martinique, then to Algeria, where he died in 1906.

The next day we met up with Bonaventure, who suggested we check out an interesting site outside of town. This is how we ended up exploring a hole in the ground in Abomey's outskirts, accompanied by the members of a family compound - two students, their uncle, his wife and their daughter and baby.

Descending into the hole.

The purpose of the holes was the subject of speculation - hiding from enemies being the preferred theory. Our hosts mentioned that some holes contained ironwork from 3,000 years ago.

We had an interesting time in sprawling Abomey (including finding a mini-golf course). One curious aspect was how matter-of-fact Bonaventure and other residents were about the brutal reputation of the Dahomey kingdom. But it was greatly affected by the slave trade, which probably motivated the various expansionary wars described in the historical signs around town, and explains the lengths neighboring communities went to in order to avoid slavers.