Notsé


Notsé is a town in the Plateaux Region of Togo. It is the capital of Haho Prefecture and is situated 95 km north of the capital Lomé. The town was formed around 1600 by the Ewe people, after they were displaced westward by the expansion of the Yoruba.

History

Founded by tribes from the Nile Valley and after a transition to Oyo, Ketou, Tado, Notse is the last stage of Ewe migrations around the 15th century. To protect his people, the chief built an imposing wall called "Agbogbo" 14,5 km whose remains are still visible in places. In the seventeenth century, following an internal crisis, the Ewe revolted and fled south and west to neighbording Ghana. Those who remained founded the six original quarters which have district chiefs, notables of the chief Superior who is today Agokoli IV. Notse is also the pineapple capital.The name Notse is a distortion of the word NOIN the leader of the group OUPE, who says "we stay here" in the Ewe dialect. Nuatja is a distortion of the same name by the German colonizers. Notse is located 100 km north of Lome. It is part of the Plateaux Region of which Atakpame is the chief town.
More than a ritual feast, "Agbogbo-Za" is the biggest traditional celebration of the Ewe people. It marks the commemoration of the exodus of Ewe people in the 17th century.