THE HONMÈ MUSEUM, FORMER ROYAL PALACE

In the Avassa district, the former royal palace has become the Honmè museum. The visit of this museum is made by a local guide who will make you discover how the royal family lived and will explain the function of the different objects exposed: assin, musical instruments, ritual and cult potteries, photographs, sculptures, furniture, etc.

Note that most of the kings of Porto-Novo have lived in this palace, because unlike the kings of Abomey, they did not mark their reign with new constructions each time. Abandoned in 1976 following important quarrels of succession, it then underwent major restoration work and was finally opened to the public in 1988, with the notable exception of a part reserved for the descendants of the senior chiefs. Indeed, we no longer speak of kings, but of "superior chiefs" since the colonization of the kings of Porto Novo dispossessed them of their political power.

The royal residence is located on a site of 2.5 hectares. The buildings, mostly built in the 19th century, are distributed around five courtyards, two of which have an impluvium, as in the palaces of Ifé and Kétou, while outside are the temples and altars celebrating the memory of the ancestors of the royal family. The visit is worth the detour when passing through Porto-Novo, even if the old Royal Palace is much less interesting than the one in Abomey, it must be said.