Abomey is a town in Benin, formerly the capital of the ancient kingdom of Dahomey. The kingdom was established about 1625. The royal palaces of Abomey are a group of earthen structures built by the Fon people between the mid-17th and late 19th Centuries. One of the most famous and historically significant traditional sites in West Africa, the palaces form one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Dahomey was an African kingdom situated in what is now Benin. ... Fon is a major West African ethnic and linguistic group in the country of Benin or Dahomey. ... UNESCO logo The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, commonly known as UNESCO, is a specialized agency of the United Nations system established in 1946. ... Elabana Falls is in Lamington National Park, part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves World Heritage site in Queensland, Australia. ...

The town was surrounded by a mud wall with a circumference estimated at six miles (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911), pierced by six gates, and protected by a ditch five feet deep, filled with a dense growth of prickly acacia, the usual defence of West African strongholds. Within the walls were villages separated by fields, several royal palaces, a market-place and a large square containing the barracks. In November 1892, Behanzin, the last independent reigning king of Dahomey, being defeated by French colonial forces, set fire to Abomey and fled northward. The French colonial administration rebuilt the town and connected it with the coast by a railroad. Gates may prevent entry, or they may be merely decorative. ... Species ~1,300; See List of Acacia species Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees of Gondwanian origin belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the Pea Family Fabaceae, first described from Africa by Linnaeus in 1773. ... Behanzin in 1894 Behanzin is considered (if Adandozan is not counted) eleventh King of Dahomey (now Benin). ...

When UNESCO designated the royal palaces of Abomey as a World Heritage Site in 1985 it stated

From 1625 to 1900 twelve kings succeeded one another at the head of the powerful Kingdom of Abomey. With the exception of King Akaba, who used a separate enclosure, they each had their palaces built within the same cob-wall area, in keeping with previous palaces as regards the use of space and materials. The royal palaces of Abomey are a unique reminder of this vanished kingdom.

From 1993, 50 of the 56 bas-reliefs that formerly decorated the walls of King Glèlè (now termed the 'Salle des Bijoux') have been located and replaced on the rebuilt structure. The bas-reliefs carry an iconographic program expressing the history and power of the Fon people. Badohou, who took the throne name Glele, is considered (if Adandozan is not counted) to be the tenth King of Dahomey (now Benin). ...

Today, the city is of less importance, but is still popular with tourists and as a centre for crafts. Its population in 1992 was 66,595 ([1] (http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/A/Abomey.asp)). Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with ones own hands and skill. ...

External link:

• UNESCO assessment of threats to the site, after tornado damage in 1984. (http://whc.unesco.org/sites/323.htm)