Koutammakou, the Land of the Batammariba

The Koutammakou landscape in north-eastern Togo and neighbouring Benin is home to the Batammariba, whose remarkable mud tower-houses are known as takienta (sikien in the plural). Nature is strongly associated with the rituals and beliefs of society here. The landscape is exceptional due to the architecture of the tower-houses which reflect the social structure; its farmland and forest; and the associations between people and landscape. The buildings are grouped in villages, which also include ceremonial spaces, springs, sacred rocks and sites reserved for initiation ceremonies.