One name, two places
They belong to the Kingdom of Benin, in Nigeria. If that is what brought you here, this page will point you the right way, in three minutes.
Kingdom of Benin
Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria
A West African kingdom of the Edo people, at its height from the 15th to the 19th century. Its royal court commissioned the brass and ivory works known worldwide as the Benin Bronzes. The kingdom's capital, Benin City, still exists today, in Nigeria.
Republic of Benin
Ouidah and Porto-Novo, West Africa
A separate country about 300 kilometres west of Nigeria, formerly named Dahomey until 1975. Its own port city, Ouidah, was central to a different history: the Kingdom of Dahomey, and the Atlantic slave trade. No bronzes, no Oba, no Edo court.
In 1897, a British military expedition sacked Benin City, capital of the Kingdom of Benin, and looted its royal palace. Thousands of brass plaques, bronze heads and ivory carvings left Nigeria and entered Western museums, chiefly the British Museum in London.
That kingdom, that city and that royal court are in Nigeria. They have never been part of the Republic of Benin, the country 300 kilometres west that took its current name in 1975, after the Bight of Benin, the bay both places sit near.
If your interest is the Benin Bronzes, the British Museum and Nigeria's National Commission for Museums and Monuments hold the accurate record. We will not pretend to speak for a history that is not ours.
If you are still here
No bronzes here. But in 1892, French colonial forces looted 26 royal treasures from the palaces of Abomey, capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey, whose main port was Ouidah. France returned them in November 2021, the largest single restitution of African heritage in recent history.
Different kingdom. Different ocean crossing. Same question the Benin Bronzes debate raises: what does it mean when a nation gets its history back.
Are the Benin Bronzes from the Republic of Benin?
No. The Benin Bronzes come from the historic Kingdom of Benin, whose capital was Benin City, in what is now Edo State, Nigeria. They were made by Edo artisans for the royal court of the Oba of Benin. The Republic of Benin, the country that includes Ouidah, is a separate nation about 300 kilometres further west.
Why do the Kingdom of Benin and the Republic of Benin share the same name?
The coastal region here has long been called the Bight of Benin, a name tied to the historic Nigerian kingdom. In 1975, the country then known as Dahomey renamed itself the Republic of Benin, after that bay. The choice created a lasting naming overlap between two distinct places, with no political continuity between them.
Where are the Benin Bronzes today, and what is the repatriation debate about?
Most were taken in 1897, when a British military expedition sacked Benin City and looted the royal palace. Thousands of bronzes, ivories and brass plaques left Nigeria and were sold into Western collections, the largest holdings sitting today in the British Museum and the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin. Nigeria and the Edo royal court have formally requested their return, and restitution has begun. This history belongs entirely to Nigeria.
So what does Ouidah, in the Republic of Benin, actually hold?
A different history, on a different coast. Ouidah was the main port of the Kingdom of Dahomey, capital at Abomey, and one of the principal departure points of the transatlantic slave trade. Its own restitution story concerns 26 royal treasures of Dahomey, looted by French colonial forces in 1892 and returned by France in 2021.
I searched for Benin City hotels or flights, is that what you offer?
No. Benin City is in Nigeria, and we have no information on hotels, flights or logistics there. After Vodundays operates in Ouidah, in the Republic of Benin, a different country entirely.
Ouidah, Republic of Benin: the Door of No Return, the royal treasures of Dahomey, and the living Vodun heritage of a city that never stopped being a port between worlds.