Works of art to see Togo

The Nangbeto hydroelectric dam is about 45 minutes'drive from Atakpamé by car or motorbike. The site can take a detour if there is a walk on the other side of the dam, towards villages on the border of Benin.

Below the cathedral, on the lake is the pier built in 1985, on the occasion of the visit to Togo of Pope John Paul II. Those arriving by inland waterway will take this step to fouler the land of Togoville, under the watchful eyes of fishermen.

The village is one of the oldest and most important iron and steel centers in West Africa, with iron ores having been exploited very early on by the local population. For more than two millennia, this tradition has been exported to Burkina Faso, Benin and Ghana. The region is known for its smelting techniques and its blacksmiths. In the locality, one discovers several blast furnaces, which should soon be upgraded.

They are the most numerous in the region, there would be more than a hundred of them. The extraction of the ore is generally done in the open air. The oven measures about 120 cm in diameter and is 2 to 3 meters high. The construction of the furnace involves magical rites that allow the delimitation of its circumference. A deep pit is then dug in which gris-gris are placed. The oven itself is composed of successive layers of clay and roots.