Owo

Owo is a city and local government area in Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria, at the southern edge of the Yoruba Hills and at the junction of roads from Akure, Kabba, Benin City and Siluko, roughly halfway between Ile-Ife and Benin City. Between 1400 and 1600 CE it was the capital of a Yoruba city-state, and its oral tradition traces its origins to Ile-Ife. Owo kept virtual independence from the neighbouring kingdom of Benin while exchanging courtly culture with it, and its ivory carvers were valued at the Benin court. The Aghofen palace of the Olowo, built in the 14th century, is described as the largest palace in Africa and is a national monument. Owo came under British rule in 1893, and in June 2022 at least 50 worshippers were killed in a massacre at St. Francis Catholic Church.