Dassa-Zoumé Igbó Ìdàáshà
Commune and city
View of Dassa from Kamaté Hill, 2019
Dassa-Zoumé Location in Benin
Coordinates: 07°45′00″N 02°11′00″E / 7.75000°N 2.18333°E / 7.75000; 2.18333
Country	Benin
Department	Collines Department
Area
• Total	661 sq mi (1,711 km2)
Population  (2013)
• Total	112,118
Time zone	UTC+1 (WAT)

Dassa-Zoumé [da.sa.zu.me], also known as Igbó Ìdàáshà or simply Dassa, is a city in central Benin, on the Cotonou-to-Parakou railway and the main north-south highway. It is the capital of Collines Department. The commune covers an area of 1,711 square kilometres (661 sq mi), and as of 2013 had a population of 112,118.^[1]

Jama'at Islamique Ahmadiyya Benin built its central mosque (Mosquée Moubarqiue) here in 2010, which has a tall 18-meter minaret, just outside the city on the main road towards Parakou. Jama'at Islamique Ahmadiyya Benin also built a French/English bilingual primary school here, called Ecole Primaire Publique Ahmadiyya.^[2]

The indigenous population of Dassa are the Idaasha. They migrated from the Egba subgroup of western Yoruba in present-day Nigeria to settle here.^{[citation needed]} The city is known as a place of pilgrimage; the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared in the Grotte Notre-Dame d'Arigbo, around which a basilica has since been built containing several shrines.^[3] The city is also known for its surrounding forests and hills, many of which contain Orisa shrines.^[3]

Dassa is also home to a Yoruba constituent monarchy.^[4]

History

The founders of the city of Dassa came from Igba in Nigeria around the 12th century. The kingdom of Dassa was created around 1600 and put under a French protectorate in 1889.

List of rulers of Dassa

References

07°45′N 02°11′E / 7.750°N 2.183°E / 7.750; 2.183

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