Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba World Heritage Site

Official name

Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba | UNESCO

Country

Benin | Map

Continent

Africa

Location

10.1480° Lat, 1.1002° Lon | Map

Code

1140

Time Zone

Africa/Porto-Novo (WAT, +0100)

Current Time

Category

Cultural

Description

Inscribed 2004. The Koutammakou landscape in north-eastern Togo and neighbouring Benin is home to the Batammariba, whose remarkable mud tower-houses are known as takienta ( sikien in the plural). Nature is strongly associated with the rituals and beliefs of society here. The landscape is exceptional due to the architecture of the tower-houses which reflect the social structure; its farmland and forest; and the associations between people and landscape. The buildings are grouped in villages, which also include ceremonial spaces, springs, sacred rocks and sites reserved for initiation ceremonies.