The Royal Palaces of Abomey are a UNESCO World Heritage Site encompassing the remains of twelve successive palaces built by the kings of the Dahomey Kingdom between the 17th and 19th centuries. At its peak, the complex covered 44 hectares and was the political, ceremonial and spiritual heart of one of the most powerful kingdoms in West Africa — one that controlled the region's slave trade and whose wealth came largely from the sale of war captives to European slavers at Ouidah on the coast.
The most striking feature is the architectural tradition of bas-relief murals covering the palace walls: stylised images of the symbols, animals and achievements associated with each king. The Great Python of the Aido-Hwedo god, the shark, the lion, the buffalo — each dynasty had its symbolic beast, and the carvings are vivid and precise. A local guide hired at the entrance is almost essential for making sense of the iconography.