Togoville is one of those small villages that carry an enormous history. On the shore of Lake Togo, just over half an hour from Lomé, it was here that in 1884 King Mlapa III put his signature to a treaty with the German explorer Gustav Nachtigal, paving the way for the creation of the colony of Togoland. From this village — then simply called 'Togo' — came the name of the whole country.
But Togoville is not just colonial history: it is one of the spiritual hearts of Togolese voodoo. On its dirt streets, just metres apart, stand the Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Lake — built on an old German church and linked to a reported apparition of the Virgin over the lake — and dozens of animist shrines and altars dedicated to the 'vodún' deities. Many of its inhabitants practise both religions at once, in a syncretism that amazes visitors.
This guide explains how to visit Togoville: the pirogue crossing from Agbodrafo, the guided tour of the village, the cathedral and the Marian shrine that pilgrims visit every year, the voodoo altars, the treaty monument and the serene atmosphere of life by the lake. It is an essential half-day trip for anyone who wants to understand the history and soul of Togo, beyond the bustle of the capital.
The name Togoville — and that of the whole country — comes from the Ewe 'To-go', 'on the shore of the lake' or 'on the other side of the water'. In July 1884, King Mlapa III signed a protection treaty here with the German Gustav Nachtigal, which opened the door to the colony of Togoland; the Germans renamed the village 'Togostadt'. When France received the eastern part after the First World War, the name was gallicised as Togoville. The village remained a stronghold of voodoo and, at the same time, a Catholic centre linked to devotion to Our Lady of the Lake. The full story is told on our history page.
Read the full history ↓The 56 km strip of beach that was the Slave Coast and the cradle of vodun: this is where Germany founded its colony, and where a lakeside village, Togoville, gave the country its name.
Read the history of Lomé and the coast (Maritime Region) →No exact prices: a scale from $ (budget) to $$$$$ (luxury), with 2-3 options per category.
Origins, formation and what the sources say.
Togoville sits on the northern shore of Lake Togo, a brackish lagoon separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow strip of land. The area has long been home to Ewe communities. The Ewe people settled in this part of the Gulf of Guinea between the 15th and 17th centuries, arriving from the east in a migration that tradition links to their flight from the city of Notsé.
The village's original name was simply 'Togo', which in the Ewe language means roughly 'by the lake' or 'on the other side of the water' ('to' = water/lagoon, 'go' = shore/coast). It was a community of fishermen and farmers, and for them the lake was both larder and road: the main route to the neighbouring villages and to the coast.
Without knowing it, that lakeside village with its modest name and simple economy was headed for an enormous role in history. When the European powers rushed to carve up Africa in the late 19th century, one of the key treaties of that 'scramble' was signed right here. The name of this small 'Togo' would end up naming a whole colony and, later, an independent nation.
In July 1884, the German explorer and diplomat Gustav Nachtigal was travelling along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea. His mission was to secure territory for the newly unified German Empire, which was eager to join the colonial carve-up. On 5 July 1884, in Togoville, Nachtigal signed a 'protection' treaty with the local king, Mlapa III, which placed the area under a German protectorate.
That agreement, along with similar ones along the coast, gave birth to the colony of Togoland, which the European powers recognised the following year. The Germans made Togoville one of their first footholds and renamed it 'Togostadt' ('Togo town'). They even treated it as the capital of the new colony before the administration moved to the coast, first to Baguida and Zébé and finally to Lomé in 1897.
Today the Togoville treaty is seen in very different ways. Official history treats it as the founding act of the country. Many historians see it as an unequal agreement, signed by a local chief who could hardly have understood the scope of what he was giving away, at a time of pressure and rivalry among Europeans. Either way, that signing on the shore of the lake produced the name 'Togo' that the whole nation bears today.
Under German rule, Togoville was somewhat overshadowed by the rise of Lomé, which was chosen as capital in 1897 for its beach, which suited trade, and its position on the border. Even so, the village kept its historical prestige and its role as a religious centre. In the early 20th century, German missionaries built a large church here and worked to spread Christianity in a region deeply shaped by voodoo.
The First World War changed the colony's fate. In 1914, British and French troops occupied Togoland, and after the war the League of Nations divided the territory. The western part went under British administration, and the eastern part, with Lomé and Togoville, came under French mandate from 1922. That was when the German name 'Togostadt' was translated into French and the village became Togoville, the name it still has today.
The French turned the old German church into a Catholic one and dedicated it to Our Lady of the Lake. Togoville remained a symbol in two ways. On one side, it was the place of the founding treaty and of the Christian presence. On the other, it was an unshakeable stronghold of voodoo, whose shrines never stopped operating just a few metres from the church.
The most fascinating thing about Togoville is how Catholicism and voodoo live side by side in the same small town. The population is split roughly half and half between the two faiths, and it isn't unusual for one person to practise both, going to Mass at the cathedral while also honouring the 'vodún' deities at the village shrines. Far from being felt as a contradiction, this syncretism is a natural part of everyday life.
Marian devotion in Togoville grew stronger from the 1970s, when stories spread of the Virgin Mary appearing over the waters of the lake. The village became a pilgrimage centre, and its religious standing peaked in 1985, when Pope John Paul II visited Togo and stopped in Togoville. Since then, a shrine dedicated to Our Lady of the Lake has drawn pilgrims from all over the country.
At the same time, Togoville never stopped being one of the great centres of Togolese voodoo. Its shrines, altars and priestly families keep alive the ceremonies honouring the deities of nature, fertility and protection. That double soul, Christian and animist, makes the village a unique place for understanding the spirituality of Togo. Here imported and ancestral religions don't exclude each other but weave together.
Today's Togoville is a quiet village of a few thousand people who make their living from fishing, farming and, more and more, cultural tourism. It keeps its royal lineage, with the descendants of King Mlapa still holding the traditional title, and it remains a key historical and religious site for the whole country.
For travellers, Togoville packs Togolese identity into a single visit. There's the memory of the treaty that gave the nation its name, the cathedral of Our Lady of the Lake with its African murals, the voodoo shrines and the royal lineage. There's also the calm life of a lakeside community where fishermen still cross the lagoon in dugout canoes as they did centuries ago. Crossing the lake from Agbodrafo, with the village appearing across the water, is one of the most memorable arrivals in West Africa.
All in all, Togoville sums up the history of Togo in a few hectares: the Ewe peoples and their bond with the lake, the impact of European colonisation, the spread of Christianity, the endurance of voodoo, and the way all of it coexists today. It's no coincidence that the whole country is named after this small village by the water.
