Ile-Ife: City of 201 Gods

Photo source: wikipedia

"In The Pivot of Four Quarters, Wheatley indicates that no place in sub-Saharan Africa has such cosmic significance as the Yoruba city of Ile-Ife. Known as the City of 201 (or 401) Gods, Ile-Ife is the base of the entire Yoruba civilization and culture, and its significance goes far beyond the immediate geographical boundaries of Nigeria. The religious culture of Ile-Ife has influenced the development and growth of new African religious movements as far off as Brazil, the Caribbean, and the United States.

Ile-Ife, a city of about half a million, is situated at the geographical center of the Yoruba city-states. To the west lies Ibadan... and to the east lies Ondo, gateway to the eastern Yoruba city-states. Isle-Ife is about two hundred kilometers from Lagos, which was Nigeria's coastal capital city for over a century.

Unlike the political, commercial, and administrative cities of Ibadan and Lagos, contemporary Ile-Ife is a ceremonial city par excellence; like the cities of Banaras, Jerusalem, and Mecca. [I]n the people's imagination it is the preeminent sacred place, beyond the secular and the profane."

Jacob K. Olupona (2011: 36)

City of 201 Gods: Ile-Ife in Time, Space, and the Imagination