The Atakora region is one of the unmissable wonders of Benin and Togo. To reach it from Natitingou, you have to drive along a road set amidst spectacular scenery of fertile plains, dotted with fields of maize, cotton and baobabs, protected by mountain profiles that stretch as far as the eye can see to the border with Togo.<\/b><\/p>\n
It is here that the Somba-Betammarib\u00e9<\/b> (in Benin) and Tamberma<\/b> (in Togo) peoples, fleeing slavery, tribal wars and Islamisation, found refuge, preserving their ancestral traditions intact over the centuries. It was in this spectacular place that they found fertile land and rocky heights in which to hide. It was here that they built their small defensive fortresses with what nature offered them, thatch, wood and mud.<\/p>\n
Their typical houses called tatatchenta<\/b> (or more simply tata<\/b>), scattered across the plain and between the hills, despite their simplicity, are a true synthesis of defensive, functional and religious engineering<\/b>. Entirely modelled in clay by laying one on top of the other, both families and their herds find shelter inside. The roof consists of a terrace on wooden cavities and small towers with straw caps (rooms and granaries). Numerous ‘surveillance’ systems were designed to repel possible enemy attacks. But surely the greatest protection of the hearth of peoples who remained profoundly animist<\/b> was entrusted to the innumerable protective fetishes<\/b>, also moulded in clay in front of the door, and on which propitiatory sacrifices are periodically made, even today.<\/p>\n
The most representative examples of these small traditional dwellings with their fairy-tale appearance are to be found at Koussoukoingou<\/b> on the Beninese side and at Koutammakou<\/b> on the Togolese side (UNESCO heritage site<\/b>). Crossing the border, one realises that the geopolitical borders imposed by the great European powers did not succeed in dividing these peoples, who share the same customs, languages and traditions.<\/p>\n
Today, the border is crossed in a constant coming and going from one country to another, as if it did not exist, and the Betammarib\u00e9 and the Tamberma continue to meet and do business at the small Nadoba market<\/b>, one of the most representative in the region, where traditional goods have not yet been replaced by cheap chinoiserie. Here, every Wednesday, the feticheurs\/soothsayers<\/b> welcome under their canopies of branches all those who wish to have their fortunes read, or for advice on important personal decisions. The answer will be given to them by a complex theory of symbols that the feticheur’s stick traces in the sand, under dictation from the spirits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11354,"parent":14554,"menu_order":0,"template":"","da_non_perdere":[59],"la_terra_e_gli_uomini":[],"buono_a_sapersi":[],"prima_di_partire":[],"class_list":["post-14587","info_viaggi","type-info_viaggi","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","da_non_perdere-benin","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n