Travel Guide Atakpamé

Located between the Akposso and Mono rivers, Atakpamé is an ancient city which, over the centuries, has often served as a refuge city. Surrounded by seven hills, at an altitude of 500 m, it was chosen by the Germans, at the time of colonization, as a regional center. It was here that they took refuge and surrendered after their defeat in the First World War (ruins of Kamina). The city still breathes a colonial atmosphere as evidenced by the cobblestone streets and some of the buildings of the time. Atakpamé is also famous for its stilt walkers (tchébé dance). Capital of the Plateaux region, it is the fourth largest city in Togo. The city has always been a place of trade between the peoples of the coastal regions of the Gulf of Benin and those of the interior. Its settlement is linked to the commercial circuits that made it the supply point for the Akposso mountain people, but also a relay market for products from the markets of the Sudanese sphere and the coast. In addition to the Akposso, who are recognized as the first inhabitants of the region, there are three major settlement groups: the Houdou, the Ifê and the Fon-Mahi. The Akposso mountain people seem to have been the first occupants of the region. Tradition reports that the old Ataléwa lived on his farm with his family and used to come down from the mountains to get supplies. He regularly welcomed caravans of traders who came up from the coast via the West Plateaux with foodstuffs from the coast. The city of Atakpamé was born in the second half of the 18th century from the meeting of several population groups, mainly from the Adja-Tado and Ifê areas. The first group to settle down was the Blakpa (Houdou). These are Ewe people who immigrated from Notsé in search of fruitful trade with the Akposso country. The other Houdou groups to have settled in Atakpamé seem, on the other hand, to be Adja who would have gone up the Mono in search of fertile land. The Ifê originally left Nigeria (Ifè-Ifè) in the second half of the seventeenth century and settled in Benin (Ilè-Tchabé) and then founded the kingdoms of Ifita and Ilodji. Following the destruction of their kingdom, they scattered in three directions in Togo: in Komboli (central region), in Sè-Ana (Tagbligbo region) and in Atakpamé