Abeokuta

Abeokuta means under the rock, and the rock is Olumo, a granite outcrop in the middle of the city that the Egba used as a fortress and hiding place during the Yoruba civil wars. A stairway and a lift now climb it, past shrines and the caves families sheltered in, to a summit view over rust-red rooftops to the horizon. It is among the most visited sites in Nigeria. Below stand the Alake's palace, the Centenary Hall and the Kemta market, where adire cloth is tie-dyed in indigo by hand and sold from the same yards.