Benin: The story of the door of no return in Ouidah

Origin and creation of the door of no return of Ouidah

Over two centuries, more than a million African slaves were deported from the town of Ouidah on the Benin coast. They were led in chains from the city's slave market, where they boarded ships to unknown destinations.

In memory of this painful story, the Beninese government, with the help 'UNESCO, launched a project to commemorate the victims of the slave trade in 1990. The Slave Route project, as it was known, led to the creation of a series of statues, monuments and facilities.

These statues start in the town and continue along the dirt road to the beach. Hence the creation of the largest memorial " the Gate of No Return " which symbolizes the last journey for so many enslaved Africans before their deportation. It is at the end of the Slave Route, on the beach south of Ouidah.

Portrait of the door of no return of Ouidah

The Gate of No Return was finally built in 1995. The main materials used are concrete and bronze. Both sides of the ark are covered with images of enslaved men and women. The main mural on the inner side depicts men in chains walking towards the sea, where a ship awaits them. On the sea side, the painting shows them moving away from their homeland, a single tree in the distance representing the land that most of them would never see again.

Bronze sculptures stand on either side of the arch. Some depict enslaved Africans: oxidized bronze figures in chains, gazing out to sea. Nearby stands a cement Egoungoun, a traditional masked figure that recalls the ancestors who disappeared.

The Gate of No Return is simply a collection of powerful images that in a way express the last thoughts of slave men and women as their feet sank into the sands of the coast of Ouidah and Africa, for the very last time.

The Gate of No Return: The Final Stage of the Slave Route

From the slave market in Ouidah, enslaved Africans had to travel a few miles to the coast, where ships waited. They were ready to be transported to Jamaica, Brazil or some other unknown destination. Small rowboats took them to the larger ships.

Some would jump overboard into rough water rather than face the uncertainty of the journey or the life ahead. For most, Ouidah Beach was the last sight of Africa they would ever see.

The door of no return is therefore the last stage of the slave route. Before arriving at this point, they took to different stations (six stations in total) for activities and rituals. Discover these stations in the rest of this article.

Slave Route Stations to Name Gate Return

The Slave Route stretches from the city to the Gate of No Return, with various statues and monuments, some of which are now faded or damaged.

However, here are the important stations of this bloody road that are notable to this day.

The Auction Square

The auction place is of course the market where slaves were exchanged for junk (objects of little value). Transactions were made between kings and private European merchants (French, Portuguese, English, Danish, Dutch). For example, for a cannon, a foreign merchant can get 21 female slaves or 15 able-bodied arms in exchange.

The Oblivion Tree

These slaves thus bartered for junk will be led to the tree of oblivion. It is a mystical tree planted by the kings of Dahomey in 1527 with the aim of making slaves amnesiac, weak, unable to remember their identity and their geographical landmark.

The male slaves circled the tree nine times, from right to left, and the women seven times, from left to right.

The Black Box

The slaves, who can no longer escape, are then kept in the Black Box, without light, barely fed and deprived of all freedom for a good two weeks. This box is invented by European merchants with the aim of sorting out the strongest Africans capable of supporting the journey. They thus reduce the losses on their "human goods".
The dying, weak or dying slaves are directly buried alive in a common grave not far from the black box.

Note that half of the slaves who enter the black box die during this test. The rest is then directed to the return shaft.

The Return Shaft

The tree of return is also a mystical tree which aims to attach the soul of the slaves to their native land. Thus, when they die, their soul will return to the mainland.

The slaves leaving the black box therefore go around this tree three times before returning to the door of no return: the departure towards an unknown destiny. Some to die on the way and thrown into the sea, others to land in the fields of cotton, rice or sugar cane with the constant threat of the whip..