Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba World Heritage Site

Official name

Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba | UNESCO

Country

Togo | Map

Continent

Africa

Location

Kara Region
10.6660° Lat, 1.1333° Lon | Map

Code

1140

Time Zone

Africa/Lome (GMT, +0000)

Current Time

Category

Cultural

Description

Inscribed 2004. The Koutammakou landscape in north-eastern Togo, which extends into neighbouring Benin, is home to the Batammariba whose remarkable mud tower-houses (Takienta) have come to be seen as a symbol of Togo. In this landscape, nature is strongly associated with the rituals and beliefs of society. The 50,000-ha cultural landscape is remarkable due to the architecture of its tower-houses which are a reflection of social structure; its farmland and forest; and the associations between people and landscape. Many of the buildings are two storeys high and those with granaries feature an almost spherical form above a cylindrical base. Some of the buildings have flat roofs, others have conical thatched roofs. They are grouped in villages, which also include ceremonial spaces, springs, rocks and sites reserved for initiation ceremonies.