Porto-Novo

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"Porto Novo" redirects here. For other uses, see Porto Novo (disambiguation).

Woman Porto Nova circa 1914

Porto-Novo (also known as Hogbonou and Adjacé (population 223,552 as of a 2002 census) is the official capital of the West African nation of Benin. It is a port on an inlet of the Gulf of Guinea, in the southeastern portion of the country. Porto-Novo is Benin's second largest city, but the city of Cotonou is more important, culturally and politically. The region around Porto-Novo produces palm oil, cotton and kapok. Petroleum was discovered off the coast of the city in the 1990s, and has become an important export.

Porto-Novo is located at 6°28' North, 2°36' East (6.46667, 2.6). [1]

[edit] Things to see

The Porto Novo Museum of Ethnography contains a large collection of Yoruba masks, as well as items on the history of the city and of Benin.
King Toffa's palace (also known as the Musée Honmé and the Royal Palace), now a museum, shows what life was like for African royalty.
Jardin Place Jean Bayol is a large plaza which contains a statue of the first King of Porto-Novo.
The da Silva Museum is a museum of Benin history. It shows what life was like for the returning Afro-Brazilians
The palais de Gouverneur (governor's palace) is the home of the national legislature.

Other sites of interest include a Brazilian-style church, which is now a mosque, and the Institute of Higher Studies of Benin. Stade Municipale and Stade Charles de Gaulle, or Charles de Gaulle Stadium, are the largest football stadiums in the city.

Porto-Novo is not far from the cultural and historical living history town of Ouidah. It is also near to Nigeria and to Cotonou, and is not far from Pendjari National Park, a natural habitat for many African animal species.

[edit] Adjogan

Adjogan music is endemic to Porto-Novo. The style of music is played on an alounloun, a stick with metallic rings attached which jingle in time with the beating of the stick. The alounloun is said to descend from the staff of office of King Te-Agdanlin. The music is played to honor the King and his ministers. The music is also played in the city's Roman Catholic churches, but the royal bird crest has been replaced with a cross.