Detailed interactive map Ouidah
Ouidah is located on the Atlantic coast department, some 40 km to the west of Cotonou. Outwardly calm and quiet city is the center of African mystical voodoo worship. The main attraction is the Temple of Pythons. The building of the sanctuary looks rather modest: red clay walls with a thatched roof; a stone statue of a priestess with a snake on her shoulders greets visitors in front of a carved gate of the temple. Sacred in these lands reptiles - pythons are inhabit inside the religious building. Locals revere them as an embodiment of wisdom and believe that they bring luck, wealth and prosperity. It is interesting that nearby located is a Catholic cathedral, built by missionaries in the era of a colonial conquest, and locals willingly participate in masses. Also, tourists can visit the Sacred grove, the Voodoo Museum, which represents religious cult objects, and the coastal monument “the Gate of No Return”, set as a sign of mourning on slaves, sold to foreign land.
