The Sacred Forest of Kpassè, Kpassèzoun

Oral tradition holds that in the seventeenth century, hunted by his adversaries or having reached the end of his earthly life, the patriarch Kpassè did not die as an ordinary man. He walked into the dense forest and transformed into a majestic iroko, Milicia excelsa, to escape death at the hands of men and to keep watch over his land. That giant tree, draped in white percale, is the physical manifestation of the founder, his Atin Vodun.

Kpassè is above all the founding patriarch of the original quarter of Tovè. Collective memory holds him to be a king, a title of homage and patronymic sovereignty, even though the effective seat of Xwéda royalty lay at Sahé, later Savi. Kpassèzoun therefore does not celebrate a dynastic line: it keeps the memory of the founding ancestor, and the symbiosis between man, the plant world and the cult of the ancestors.

Over time the site has become an open-air pantheon, and the original cult space must be carefully distinguished from the sculpture trail that lines the paths. The monumental statues representing Legba the keeper of thresholds, Gou the master of iron, Heviosso the thunder, Sakpata the sovereign of the earth and Mami Wata were installed during the Ouidah 92 festival, held in February 1993, under the direction of the Beninese sculptor Cyprien Tokoudagba and local creators. They are recent. The iroko was there before them all.

As in every living sanctuary, the sacred keeps its boundaries. While the sculpture trail and the undergrowth are open to visitors, the restricted sanctuary at the foot of the original iroko, and the initiation area of the Loko-si, the devotees of the Vodun Loko, remain reserved for initiates. These spaces are not mapped, which preserves the force of the night rites that regenerate the city.

Visitor protocol

• Decent, covering dress.
• Hats, caps and sunglasses are removed before the sacred iroko, out of regard for the ancestor Kpassè.
• Silence, and respect for the instructions of the accredited guide. Leaving the marked paths is strictly forbidden.
• A libation at the foot of the main tree, palm oil, strong liquor or kola nut, is customary to ask permission and the blessing of the ancestors.
• Photography is allowed along the sculpture trail. It is strictly supervised or forbidden at the restricted sanctuary, at the foot of the iroko.
• Gathering wood, taking leaves or damaging the sacred vegetation is forbidden.