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Commune and city in Atlantique Department, Benin
Photo: user:Tienstwatrankil, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Ouidah is a city in Southern Benin known for its Voodoo culture and slave-trade history.
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Memorial to the Slave trade
Le Musée de la Fondation Zinsou
Maison du Brésil
A restored slave traders mansion, now a memorial.
Fort of St. John the Baptist of Ouidah
The fort was built by the Portuguese when tapping into the Atlantic slave trade. When slavery was legally abolished, the fort was abandoned until 1865 when it was reoccupied by the Portuguese. In 1961, the then Republic of Dahomey, one year after its independence from French rule, annexed the fort for good. The fort now serves as the Ouidah Museum of History.
Musée d'Histoire de Ouidah
Located in the fort. Showcases the archaeology, history and arts of Ouidah.
Annual festival held on 10 January. Thousands gather to dance, fall into a trance, scream and perform mock attacks on bystanders. Quite a spectacle.
From Porto-Novo, take RNIE1 south and west to Cotonou. Continue west past Cotonou for 45 mins and you will arrive at Ouidah.
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Cotonou · International · COO
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Articles and travel topics about Ouidah and Benin.
Travel tipsLasting from the 1500s to the 1800s, the Atlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity of extraordinary proportions, leaving a huge mark on four continents and irreversibly changing world history and geopolitics.
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Culture & historyThe Dutch overseas empire (Het Nederlandse Koloniale Rijk) is a historical empire, which is still partially in existence.
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Nature & adventureAs of 2023 the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves is made up of 738 reserves in 134 countries of which 22 are transboundary.
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Culture & historyReligion and spirituality have played a significant role in humanity's history. Many cultural sights from buildings to festivals and traditions are of a religious nature.
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