Abomey

Abomey, or Agbome, is the capital of the Zou Department of Benin. The commune of Abomey covers an area of 142 square kilometres and, as of 2025, it has a population of 96,974 people.

OverviewAI-generated

Abomey is a city in Benin, located in the Zou Department. It has served as the capital of both the Zou Department and Dahomey. The settlement covers an area of 142 square kilometers and sits at an elevation of 221 meters above sea level. Its population is 117,824. The city is twinned with Albi and operates in the UTC+01:00 time zone.

Notable features in Abomey include the Palais royaux d'Abomey, a castle located on Rue du Palais Royal in the Samè district. The city is described in several reference works, including the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition and Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. The demonym for its residents is абоме́ец.

Synthesized by Vinony from 47 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, Open Meteo, Openweathermap, OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Vinony graph, Geo. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Weather now

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23°broken clouds

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7-day forecast

via Open-Meteo

Place details

Locality: Abomey
Region: Zou
Country: Bénin
Population: 117,824
Timezone: Africa/Porto-Novo

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Air quality

54US AQIModerate

PM2.5: 9.7 µg/m³
PM10: 12.0 µg/m³

As of 2026-08-11 01:00 · Open-Meteo

Key facts

Settlement.name: Abomey
Settlement.settlement_type: Commune and city
Settlement.image_skyline: Rue d'Abomey (1).jpg
Settlement.image_caption: A street in Abomey in 2017
Settlement.pushpin_map: Benin
Settlement.pushpin_label_position: bottom
Settlement.pushpin_mapsize: 200
Settlement.pushpin_map_caption: Location in Benin
Settlement.subdivision_type: Country
Settlement.subdivision_name: Benin
Settlement.subdivision_type1: Department
Settlement.subdivision_name1: Zou Department
Settlement.area_total_km2: 142
Settlement.population_as_of: 2012
Settlement.population_total: 90195
Settlement.population_density_km2: auto
Settlement.timezone: WAT
Settlement.utc_offset: +1

via Wikipedia infobox

Travel guide

Get in

Nearby Bohicon has a rail link with the capital Cotonou and Parakou in the north, there are three departures in each direction every week. Tickets from Cotonou costs CFA 1100 in second class and CFA 1400 in first.

You can take the very good Baobab Express Bus to get to Bohicon. They have quite new buses with air conditioning and Wifi and set a focus on security and punctuality. (2500 CFA per person from Cotonou in Dec. 2018)

Bush taxis from Bohicon cost CFA 300, and CFA 2000 for the 3-hour ride from Cotonou. Cheaper but slower public buses are also available.

Get around

thumb|300px|One of the Royal Palaces.

Zemi-johns are a popular, cheap and efficient way to get around. They are simply a scooter-like taxi popular in the country.

See

The Royal Palaces of Abomey are a group of earthen structures built by the Fon people of the Dahomey Kingdom between the mid-17th and late 19th Centuries. One of the most famous and historically significant traditional sites in West Africa, the Palaces are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Each king had a new palace built for himself. They are filled with larger numbers of bas-reliefs and artwork that display everyday life, including war, sacrifices and torture methods. The Dahomey were also notable for being one of the main beneficiaries of the Atlantic slave trade, with palaces largely having been built using wealth acquired from capturing slaves from neighbouring ethnic groups to sell to the Europeans. The palaces are: Akaba Royal Palace Gbehanzin Royal Palace Palace of King Glele Palace of King Agaja Palace of King Tegbessu Palace of King Agoli-Agbo Palace of King Ghezo Palace of King Angoglo Palace of King Kpengla

It is also worth visiting the nearby museum:

Do

thumb|250px|A royal palace.

Have some rest at Chez Monique (5XWJ+Q49), with its peaceful garden and artwork pieces.

Buy

The Musée Historique d'Abomey sells souvenirs, including banners and bronze figurines.

Eat

Have a good international meal at the Auberge d'Abomey.

Sleep

There are a few motels in town, but none are of particularly good quality.

The Auberge d'Abomey have clean ventilated and conditionned rooms..Ask for the doubles near the restaurant, they are larger than the other ones.

Sun City is a bit off the city, but they have some rooms with a jacuzzi.

In the nearby city of Bohicon, the Majestic Hotel has a swimming pool. Prices between 13000 and 21000 XOF the night.

Travel guide from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0)

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

8 sections

Contents

History
The Royal Palaces of Abomey
Threats
Demographics
Gallery
See also
References
External links

Abomey, or Agbome, is the capital of the Zou Department of Benin. The commune of Abomey covers an area of 142 square kilometres and, as of 2025, it has a population of 96,974 people.

Abomey houses the Royal Palaces of Abomey, a collection of small traditional houses that were inhabited by the Kings of Dahomey from 1600 to 1900, and which were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Abomey” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.