Things to see and do Middle-Bénin

The Underground Village is an open-air museum with 56 of the 1 600 underground houses listed on the Plateau of Abomey. Dating back to 1711-1742, these underground houses would have served as a refuge and shelter. The tour circuit, a trail mapped in latérite through a beautiful vegetation, includes a reception room, a mock-up room, a reference shelter, altars and sacred temples testifying to the internal organization of the society and the religious and mystical life of the first occupants of the site, a showroom of the remains recovered during excavations, a play space for the excavations. children, the Mèdemian, the underground house consisting of a main bedroom (lounge) and three secondary rooms (bedrooms), and a butterfly garden to highlight the biodiversity of the environment…

To note that for ritual reasons it is desirable not to wear red clothing, and that be equipped with closed footwear is recommended.

Above the palace, a huge, split stone stone named Okèyité overlooks the valley. To climb up there and enjoy an exceptional panorama, you must go to the Essébré district, located at the foot of the hill. Then, after hitting the homes to ask (if possible) the help of a resident (Gabriel Badjéhoun, for example, if he is not in the fields), you will begin your ascent by the right. Past the houses, especially women who prepare sesame, stairs help to cross the first and short part of the journey. After you have circumvented the superimposed, you will start the road to the induction of the new kings, the first necessary stop, commented on by a guide. Then, with a slightly sporty ascent, you will reach the plateau, with, for horizon, the roofs of Dassa on your left (and the cemetery of Princes, forbidden to visit, on the hillside) as well as palm groves and other teckeraies on your right. Behind you, the tiled tombs of the Idjéhoun-Eyo family continue to welcome the dead of this lineage from Nigeria hundreds of years ago.