Glidji

Founded around 1680 by Foli Bebe, Glidji is the beating heart of Guin spirituality. It is here, on the peaceful banks of the lagoon, that the Guin people settled after their migration from Accra. More than a village, it is a sacred land where ancestral power resides.

Each year, Glidji becomes the epicenter of the world during the Epe-Ekpe ceremony (the Taking of the Sacred Stone). In its mystical clearings, under centuries-old trees, the high priests consult the divinities to read the omens for the year to come. The atmosphere is of a rare density, charged with a fervor that spans centuries.

Today, Glidji remains the spiritual heart of the Guin people. Its shrines, guarded by Hunon priests, attract devotees from all over Togo and neighboring Ghana. The sacred forest of Be-Glidji, a few minutes from the village, protects a unique ecosystem where initiations continue to take place according to immutable rites. The village is accessible by pirogue from the lagoon or by road from Aneho, in about twenty minutes.

Glidji is accessible in 20 minutes by moto-taxi from Aneho. The village has about 5000 inhabitants, mostly fishermen and farmers. The sacred forest of Be-Glidji, a few minutes from the center, is one of the last preserved forest spaces on the Togolese coast. Each year in September, the village hosts thousands of faithful for Epe-Ekpe, the Guin New Year ceremony.