BENIN - Tata Somba

around Boukombé

The Somba (or Tammari) people are known as the Taberma in the adjoining areas of Benin and Togo and occupy the chain of Atakora Mountains. Famous for its incredible fortified huts, called Tata Somba, have normally two floors; the first or ground floor is used for housing livestock at night and also contains alcoves for cooking and other tasks and the second floor is used to sleep and keep food. The areas in  Benin and Togo were named World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. But without any financial incentive to maintain these heritage houses, the local people are building larger modern house near their Tata Somba, and they not always maintain the old buildings. And in the future, the beautiful architecture of the Tata Somba might disappear, replaced by concrete houses.