When the government of Western Nigeria established the University of Ife in 1961, the country was only a year old. When classes commenced the following year, Unife had the opportunity to proclaim the modernity of the young nation through its breadth of studies, as well as its appearance. The University controverted late colonial views concerning tertiary education. The Western Region had hosted the University of Ibadan since 1948, and by 1959 plans were underway for the North to construct Zaria’s Ahmadu Bello University and the Eastern Region to build the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The British had recommended Lagos as the next university site, but the Western Region decided they needed a second university outside the capital. They considered numerous potential cities, and their chosen architect, Arieh Sharon, suggested Ile-Ife should be selected. In 1960, Sharon and Nigerian planners toured universities in many parts of the world, considering design, planning features, and suitability of architecture to site. Levin suggests Sharon was particularly impacted not only by the schools he examined, but by the spatial arrangements of Maya centers in Mexico—tight, interconnected complexes surrounded by lush greenery, with several buildings conceptualized as inverted pyramids.

Arieh Sharon (1900-1984), a well-known Israeli architect, designed the university in 1961. A number of African institutions looked to Israel in the early years of independence, partially because it had rapidly created a progressive nation with original cultural attributes, and partially because its climate was closer to that of Africa than many European countries. Sharon had trained at the Bauhaus in Germany in the 1920s before moving to Tel Aviv where he created numerous government buildings, kibbutzim, and communities. He brought experience in designing for hot climates to Nigeria, as well as intimate familiarity with Modernism—the latter a way to reshape the image of Africa as a forward-moving continent. His OAU buildings varied in their dates of construction, but are made mainly from concrete, designed to accommodate the tropical climate and sun exposure, with ventilation provided through open hallways and stairways.

The Main Core is the pedestrian-only heart of the campus and features both administrative buildings and general student service spaces. Its composition was originally planned for the Secretariat, the Assembly Hall, the Hezekiah Oluwasanmi Library (named after OAU’s second vice-chancellor), and four Faculties--Humanities, Law, Administration, and Social Science. All were arranged around a green quadrangle and interconnected through paths, the uneven terrain necessitating terraces and ramps. Jutting rooflines and roofed walkways afforded protection from both sun and downpours in the rainy season. The Humanities buildings were erected between 1963 and 1965, their stark shapes resembling reversed pyramids. The strong horizontals of their cantilevers visually link them to the nearby library (1966). The Secretariat (1968) was designed to house the university administration and act as a student center; a non-objective sculpture acts as a gate to the Modernist structure. The Faculty of Education Building (1970) echoes the shape of the Humanities building with another upside-down pyramid design, but its proportions differ. Like many of Sharon’s Israeli structures, it is raised to promote air circulation below the building. The Assembly Hall (now Oduduwa Hall), constructed from 1972 to 1976, is the Core’s most flamboyant building. Designed with an adjacent amphitheatre, it has a dramatic shallow-steps approach from the plaza. The main building holds 1400, while the amphitheatre can house a larger audience of 3500. Its exterior includes organic forms in white against a darker concrete. While this pattern is not particularly Yoruba, it is pseudo-African in its abstraction, part of a limited intent to make the architecture site-specific. Other Sharon inclusions, such as the concrete column and striated surface treatments, are also intended as references to the ancient city that became the university’s home.

Sharon was also responsible for the early residence halls (1964), but construction did not cease with the completion of his work at OAU with his son Eldar Sharon, Harold Rubin, and AMY Ltd. Later University structures by other architects followed his Modernist lead. Notable additions include the Faculty of Health and Sciences building, which exemplifies repetitive rectilinear designs from neutral tones such as brown and ivory, and the locally-dubbed “Spider,” the Civil Engineering building.

One of University’s most notable buildings is its Natural History Museum. Its existence was first broached in 1971, but it was not finished and commissioned until 2011. Designed by architect Patrick Ehinmowo and his firm Platform Concept Ltd., it is one of the most adventurous and notable Modernist museum exteriors in West Africa. Its very geometric design emphasizes the triangular and pyramidal roofing, which recalls the upside-down pyramid designs of the Faculty of Education and Humanities buildings. The exterior’s neutral browns further tie it to Awolowo Hall and the Health and Sciences building, among others. The museum includes taxidermy specimens, 20,000 plants within a herbarium, and archaeological specimens from Ife.

Apart from its varied architecture, OAU’s landscaping keeps it from being a series of concrete islands. The buildings are integrated with the surrounding palm trees via numerous green spaces that surround the main structures. Concrete expanses are even broken up by small framed triangles of grass.

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Lagos-based sculptor Aina Samuel constructed the Aare sculpture that was installed in 2016—just a year after HRM Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II became the Ooni of Ife. It stood in front of the palace on a small roundabout near the Oke-Mogun shrine, a sacred spot that is the focus of October’s Olojo Festival dedicated to Ogun, god of iron.

The sculpture represented the Aare, a specific beaded crown worn by the Ooni at his coronation and once annually during the festival. Its extensive, dark-toned blue and red “beading” contrasted with the surrounding features of then-nearby Afewonro Park. Its overall design was geometric, its triangles referring to the Yoruba cosmos. The colors were sectioned into three individual chromatic groups divided into sections of white, red, and black, although its cascading fringe was multicolored.

While conical beaded crowns are worn by the Ooni and other Yoruba monarchs (oba) who are descendants of Oduduwa, the first ruler of Ife, the Aare’s design differs from them in shape and decoration. Like an ordinary man’s dog-eared cloth cap (fila abeti-ajá), it has two flat curved-seamed sides. Some monarchs wear beaded versions as informal crowns; these can include a full or partial beaded veil that hides the individuality of the monarch and also protects the viewer from the medicine-empowered gaze of the oba, directing focus to the crown itself.

The Aare is more elaborate than these informal crowns, however. Its multi-colored beaded veil extends to the Ooni’s calves, and it includes several bead projections on a mica rondel, as well as parrot feathers, white okin feathers, and a group of bulbous elements at the nape. Unlike other Yoruba formal crowns (ade)—some of which the Ooni also owns—it lacks abstract beaded faces, birds, and interlace motifs.

Although the palace states the Aare crown dates to the time of Oduduwa, Ife’s legendary first king, its form and decoration differ substantially from the crowns that appear on terracottas and bronzes dating from the 11th–15th century. Except for the large carnelian (okun or lantana) beads sewn along the crown’s crest and protruding from its badge, today’s Aare is decorated with seed beads that were not available in Nigeria until the 19th century. Earlier crowns were made of large stone lantana from the Ilorin region or glass beads produced in Ife itself at the Olokun Grove, where crucibles were found, although they too bore a round badge (albeit with different details) at the front, absent from other Yoruba crowns.

The actual crown’s symbolic elements include the round badge made from mica, a material inserted in some of the pottery found in archaeological sites at Ife. The four beads that project from it represent an important number, critical to Ifa divination and its orisha, Orunmila; a further suggestion is that they represent the palace’s supports. The Aare’s red tail feathers from the African grey parrot are associated with prophecy and witchcraft, and signify the Ooni shares the powers of the witches but is superior to them and can serve as a supernatural protector.

One of the most important elements of the Aare is the hidden medicine within it. When worn by the Ooni, he incarnates Oduduwa, the first Yoruba ruler, as well as Ogun, whom the Olojo festival honors. Most of this medicine’s ingredients are secret, but Aare is said to be unusually heavy because it includes objects sacred to Ogun, including cutlasses and hoes. It also apparently includes a palm nut, referring to divination apparatus, and the bark of a tree (aginla or asorin) associated with the powers of witchcraft that represents the royal ancestors. The Ooni should never gaze upon the inside of his crown, lest he dies.

When he is laid to rest, his Aare is buried with him, although certain elements are removed and incorporated in his successor’s version. The crown itself is held to be a deity; sacrifices are made to it and it rests in its own palace chamber.

At some point after July 2018, the sculpture was removed from the roundabout. A large replica of the Aare, however, has been incorporated into the decorated stands erected for the Olojo festival from 2018 on.

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Located in the old part of Zaria, known as Birnin Zazzau (walled city of Zaria) or Zaria City, the gate (kofar gida) to the Emir's palace stands out as a colorful representation of the Hausa people and their ruler. The decorative designs on the façade reflect the stylistic characteristics of many Hausa buildings and art objects, and the gate itself is known throughout the region as an important cultural structure.

During the reign of Sarkin Ibrahim (r. 1924-1936), a new gate with a central arch was installed. Cars and horses could enter through the archway, while pedestrians passed through an open doorway to the right side. The thickness of the gate meant it could actually serve as a building, and the area to the left of the arch was used as a classroom. Like traditional Hausa homes, the roofline was punctuated by horn-like vertical projections known as zanko, At the time, this gate was whitewashed, its exterior decorated with large, abstract, curvilinear reliefs. Its earthen construction required resurfacing for maintenance, enabling periodic change.

The two succeeding Emirs, Ja'afaru (r. 1936-1959) and Mohammadu Aminu (1959-1975), ordered further embellishments and changes to the entrance. Under Sarkin Mohammadu Aminu’s reign, the motif size was decreased and became more intricate. By 1963, these reliefs were picked out in color. Sarkin Shehu Idris (r. 1975-) demolished the old kofar gida and erected a new gate in 1980-81. Alhaji Haruna, Zaria's then-master builder and descendent of Mallam Mikaila, the architect of the Zaria mosque, supervised the redesign, which abandoned earthen construction. The new building materials consisted of a concrete frame and cement blocks. Cement was combined with specially prepared mud and shaped by hand to create the relief decoration on the exterior.

Motifs on the present gate include some of the original royal symbols, such as the staff of office, sword, and gun, all located at eye level on the wall section between vehicle and pedestrian openings. Daguna (s., dagi) or knot patterns appear throughout the design. The dagi or wise-man’s knot is a symbol that commonly appears on both Hausa buildings and Hausa embroidery and leatherwork. The conception of the dagi and other symbols seem to have been inspired by the cursive letters of Kufic Arabic script, then became the more abstract motifs that we see on the palace gate. Arabic script was considered sacred and therefore possessed supernatural powers of protection. Both legible and imitative script are hidden within sewn leather amulets for personal protection, and are considered equally effective. Manipulated and abstracted, the calligraphic forms can also serve as a protection for both real and figurative entrances. After the 1840s, relief decoration--first on interiors only, then on exteriors--flourished as one of the most distinct design elements of Zaria architecture, influencing Hausa design in general. Because Islam is the dominant religion of the Hausa, its artistic vocabulary is traditionally made up of geometric patterns, since figurative imagery is forbidden, due to the belief that only God can create life.

Many of the shapes and patterns typically found in Islamic art can be traced back to the late antique Mediterranean and Middle Eastern worlds, they have been embellished and made more intricate; some appear to have a local origin. Their use in architectural surface reliefs is distinctively Hausa, highlighted on the relief ornamentation of the Zaria palace gate. Even as this form of house decoration is diminishing among the city's wealthy, the banner of tradition (albeit of short duration) labels the palace.

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The Oduduwa monument can be found within the grounds of Afewonro Park, located in Enuwa Square near the Ooni’s palace. The fiberglass figure, at the center of the city, represents Oduduwa, the Yoruba orisha or deity who descended from the heavens to become the first monarch. Two main versions of the Yoruba creation myth exist. In one, Obatala descended from the heavens with a calabash of sand and a chicken--the primordial ocean lay below. The chickens scratched out the sand, land formed, and the other orisha followed Obatala/Orisanla down the chain. He then created human beings. A second version, subscribed to in Ife, states that Obatala stopped on the way to his task, drank palm wine, and fell asleep. The High God Olodumare sent Oduduwa to find out what had happened, and Oduduwa completed the job. Once land was formed, he descended an iron chain to Oke Ora, a hill just outside Ife, and from there settled in the town itself.  

At some point before 2001, the sculptor Abuede, a Lagos-based artist, created the sculpture of Oduduwa grasping a staff resembling that of an Ifa diviner in his right hand. He wears a traditional Yoruba flowing, toga-like, unembroidered cloth. Upon his head is the famous aare beaded crown. Its characteristic shape--flattened, curved halves, along with the addition of a protruding crest at the forehead and the iconic cascading beaded fringe--are features of the actual crown. Although this crown, unique to Ife, is identified with the Ooni (monarch of Ife), it is quite different from the crowns that appear on sculpture from the 11th-15th centuries. The beading arrangement on the statue's neck and torso, however, imitate the royal jewelry arrangement visible on these early sculptures. The medicine horn grasped in Oduduwa's left hand also mimics these celebrated bronzes. The contemporary sculpture is more realistic than its naturalistic antecedents, however, for it has natural proportions and unidealized features that include smile lines.

Afewonro Park consists of a fenced-in section of the narrow triangle of land bounded by roads, just outside the Ooni's palace. It was the site of both of the current monarch's formal installation and the interdenominational service that honored his predecessor. It was formed not long before 2001, having been used as an informal gathering place and mosque before then. Its green lawn and flowers also host the masonry Tower of Independence, a colonial-style clocktower.

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This building and its annexes house the Edo State High Court, as well as the offices of the state judiciary. Several parts of the facade bear relief work by Ben Osawe (1931-2007). His three-story rendering is linear and geometric in conception, showing a figure dressed in the traditional beluku skirt-like garment while flourishing the ada ceremonial sword that indicates the right to take life. "Justice" is similarly linear, and is a Benin version of the blindfolded figure with scales in one hand.

Osawe, born to a father who was a Benin palace carver, but trained himself as a signmaker. He then schooled overseas in London, first at the School of Graphic Art, then at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts. He returned to Nigeria in 1966, but it took more than a decade for him to leave Lagos and take up residence in Benin City again. Familiar with many media--cement, metal, and wood--most of his work was modernist, ranging from the abstract to totally non-objective directions, although he also created several naturalistic bronzes, including one of Oba Erediauwa..

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Ring Road is one of Benin City's busiest intersections, with major roads such as Akpakpava, Airport, Sapele, Forestry, Old Sakpoba, and other streets running off the roundabout in spoke-like fashion. In the middle stands the National Museum, Benin City, as well as a small children's amusement park and other public structures. Around its perimeter are numerous commercial and governmental buildings, examples of colonial architecture, and numerous public sculptures. The latter are a notable feature of Benin City, and the then-Bendel Arts Council initiated the program in 1987 with four statues. Their numbers have grown significantly; while many were in place by the 1990s. figurative depictions of historic monarchs multiplied have multiplied in the past decade or so.

This area was part of the pre-1897 royal palace, consisting of sections of its many courtyards, as well as its huge forecourt and the shrine to Ogiuwu, the deity of death. Some even attribute the many traffic accidents on Ring Road as the deity's continued efforts to "feed." British colonial occupation cut through the palace, clearing certain areas for new construction. What is now Ring Road's "island" became the site of the British fort and barracks, providing an overview and a challenge to the remaining palace buildings, as well as the reconstructed palace after the monarchy's 1914 restoration.

Urhokpota ("Okpota's gate") Hall, another early colonial building, is also located along Ring Road. Its name refers to a ritual specialist named Okpota, who came to Benin from the Esan (Ishan) area during Oba Ozolua's reign. He told the monarch he could produce a charm that would draw wealth, and the Oba tested him by ordering Okpota to first use it himself. When the ruler saw gifts pouring in, he commissioned his own charms, which were buried under one of the palace entrances Built in 1906, it is one of the oldest colonial structures in Benin. Although British-built, the Native Council collected taxes for its payment, and it was used as a traditional court while the Oba was exiled in Calabar and no ruler was on the throne. Today it is the site of the public coronation of the Oba and first public reveal of his throne name. He then leaves and enters the nearby palace.

This city sector receives periodic facelifts because of its central site. During Adams Oshiomhole's governorship (2008-2016), a series of illuminated "dancing" fountains was installed, as were gardens and extensive landscaping. The 2016 enthronement of Oba Ewuare II brought further updates. Despite government efforts to create a park-like environment, however, the iron fence around the traffic island continues to host banners that advertise events and products, and shop-less merchants have crept back, using surrounding sidewalks as an open-air market.

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The Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre, designed by Nigerian artist Demas Nwoko, is centrally located in Benin City near the palace. Benin's premier venue for plays, video debuts, and other performances, it also hosts weddings, symposia, other social events, and occasionally serves temporary purposes, such as a mobile court..

Its exterior draws upon traditional Benin City aristocratic architecture in both color--an imitation of the local reddish clay in a cast sandcrete of Nwoko's own devising (a mix of cement, sand, and pebble-filled lateritic soil)--and in its horizontal ridges, a royal privilege the monarch grants many of his chiefs. Its shape, however, departs sharply from the rectilinear courtyard compounds of the Edo, favoring a semicircle that follows the curve of the theatre's seating.

Nwoko originally designed the building as a University of Benin theatre in 1972, but it ultimately became a government-funded civic structure that opened in 1993. It seats between 200 to 700 people, depending on whether the forestage and orchestra pit are in use. The structure's two stories accommodate highly pitched seating as well as two roomy hallways sometimes used for exhibitions.

Nwoko added exterior textural interest through window screening that alternates panels of vertically-oriented staggered rectangles with others consisting of diamond patterns. The staircase and select small areas of the exterior are enclosed by concrete openwork, and passive cooling aspects are incorporated, although the building is also air-conditioned.

Nwoko developed a keen interest in architecture at an early age, and became familiar with Benin architecture during his secondary school days in Benin City. By the time he enrolled in the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology in 1957 (subsumed by the newly-created Ahmadu Bello University while he was still a student), his direction had shifted to fine arts. His subsequent work included both painting and Nok-inspired terracotta sculpture. While at ABU, he became part of the Art Society, a group of students inspired by a will to integrate traditional arts with their Western-oriented training to create a kind of nationalistic authenticity.

Nwoko's buildings remain some of the few major Nigerian structures that draw visible inspiration from earlier traditions within the country. Although he has been criticized by Nigerian architectural historians because of his lack of formal training as an architect, his buildings have received international attention.

In 2017, Edo State's governor temporarily made the Centre the site of a motor park until a city-wide motor park could be constructed. A market has sprung up on the grounds to service passengers, and the grounds and structure have deteriorated. This may not be long-lived, for Oba Ewuare II called for its refurbishment during his announcement of the establishment of a Benin Royal Academy of Performing Art in 2017.

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Benin City's National Museum was, in 1944, the second museum to be established in the country, under the auspices of Oba Akenzua II. He first hosted a collection of antiquities in the palace, some of which had been uncovered during 20th-century royal construction. This included a large brass snake's head of the type that had formerly hung on the palace towers, as well as several hip pendants, a figure, and large shield-shaped plaques whose thinness, style, and metallic content suggested an early date. This initial collection developed into Benin's National Museum, with local historian Chief Jacob Egharevba serving as its first curator. It moved to the colonial tax office on Ring Road, then back to the Divisional Council within palace grounds, then into the colonial post office. In 1960, it was handed over to the government. The impetus for museum foundation and the establishment of a federal Department of Antiquities came from a British colonial education officer, Kenneth C. Murray. In the early 1970s, when oil revenue fueled infrastructures, Gov. S. O. Ogbemudia funded the construction of a new dedicated building on King's Square, the centrally-located circle surrounded by the city's Ring Road. This land had been part of the palace complex before the 1987 British invasion, but in 1973 it was opened to the public as a cultural display site.

Its rounded Brutalist exterior echoes the circular parcel of land where the museum stands. Antithetical to the traditional rectangular courtyard architecture of the ancient kingdom, it does, however, mimic those structures' reddish earth color, albeit through cement. A 1976 exterior mosaic by Yoruba artist Jimoh Buraimoh depicts a lively abstracted court scene of an Oba (presumably Oba Akenzua, as he wears circular spectacles) surrounded by chiefs, courtiers, and shield-bearing figures drawn from 16th-century plaques.

The building's three floors consisted of displays that remained consistent for decades, with the exception of a 1982 special exhibition of repurchased Benin arts. The first (ground) floor was dedicated to mostly pre-1897 antiquities, some of which had been purchased back from Britain when Nigeria was still a colony. This area included exhibits of partially-reconstructed royal altars, albeit with objects clearly separated from one another for display purposes. The second floor included some Benin City objects of more recent manufacture, including divination equipment, as well as pottery, masks, and other artworks from elsewhere in the former Bendel State (now divided into Edo and Delta States). The third floor included wooden sculpture, masks, and additional art from other regions of Nigeria. In late September 2017, however, the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art brought their exhibition “Chief S.O. Alonge: Photographer to the Royal Court of Benin, Nigeria” to the museum as part of its permanent installation.

Although limited archaeology has been conducted in Benin City, in 1961-62 Graham Connah investigated the area earmarked for the new museum's construction. While the area was likely the site of the large open gathering place just in front of palace structures, over twenty sections of pre-14th century potsherd pavement were found in a pit. This type of terracotta paving was atypical of Benin City, but is known to have been a feature of the Yoruba city of Ife to the northwest; Benin's present dynasty is said to have originated from Ife. Other cuttings yielded pottery remains and a trussed skeleton, suggesting human sacrifice and/or execution, the former practiced at the palace in past centuries during ceremonies or times of crisis.

When the British established their colonial government in Benin City, they cut roads through the former palace grounds and cleared buildings. The area where the museum now stands became their Public Works Department, site of urban planning. The British introduced "burnt bricks," as opposed to sun-dried bricks, as a civic building material, using metal molds to form the local clay and emboss it with the imperial crown. Both manufacturing and kiln-firing of the bricks was done along the banks of the Ikpoba River.

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St. Matthew's Cathedral is part of the Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion, and the oldest surviving church in Benin. It opened in 1902, just after the Church Missionary Society (CMS) established itself in the city. The land for the church was donated by a convert, Madam Arokunbo Ovoranmwen,  one of Oba Ovoranmwen's widows, for it had been the site of her father's house. Interest in Christianity increased rapidly; in only its sixth year of operation, it witnessed 85 baptisms. 

The Cathedral's basilica form is flanked by twin belltowers, a typical floorplan for Christian churches, but its hasty erection meant its form was streamlined, without the decorative features that marked its counterparts in EuropeAt the time it was built, however, it was the tallest structure in the city, giving it architectural primacy. It became the royal church in 1931, when Oba Eweka II began to attend regular, a habit continued by Oba Akenzua II, who held a thanksgiving service at St. Matthew's the day after his coronation. At least nine additional Anglican churches are now in Benin, as well as numerous Catholic, Protestant, and Pentecostal Christian churches. 

Its associated school, the St. Matthew's CMS Day School, was the only mission-run educational institution in Benin for a decade; with only one public elementary school (the first public secondary school in Benin did not open until 1937). Western education in the city lagged far behind that of western Nigeria, where the British had established a Board of Education in Lagos as early as 1877. 

St. Matthew's marks a memorable location, for the land near it marks the current dynasty's takeover of the inner city in the 14th century. Oba Ewedo, the dynasty's fourth ruler, came to terms with the city's republican leader Chief Ogiamien after a battle between their two forces. Their agreement took place at Ekiopagha market by St. Matthew's. Until Oba Ewuare II's 2016 coronation, the treaty between the Oba and the incumbent Chief Ogiamien was reenacted a week after every coronation. its location had marked a border of sorts between the territories until the indigenes, led by Chief Ogiamien, and the area nominally controlled by the monarchy. The initial treaty acknowledged the sovereignty of the Oba and he established his palace within the city.

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Chief Nosa Isekhure, the hereditary chief priest of the Oba, belongs to the Ihogbe guild, the palace group that tends the royal ancestors. The Erimwi-Idu royal ancestral shrine was erected in his home for convenient prayer centuries ago, as was an altar to his own ancestors. Newly-made chiefs stopped at the royal shrine when celebrating their titles in a procession through the city.

In 1995, he gave his home a facelift, employing sculptors to add a figurative balustrade and adorn the roofline with relief sculpture. He incorporated his title, as well as an item associated with him--the ukhurhe, or ancestral staff, covered with red ododo cloth. Chief Isekhurhe held the staff in ceremonies when he prayed for the Oba.

When Oba Ewuare II was crowned in October of 2016, Isekhure refused to participate in some key rites and offended the monarch. Some months later, the Traditional Council carried out the Oba's will and stripped him of the privileges and responsibilities of his title. In January of 2017 the palace took control of the royal shrine, destroyed part of the facade, and sealed the front entrance to the home.

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The Benin palace (eguae) shares many contemporary elements with royal accommodations worldwide: air conditioning, electricity, electronics, and a glamorous new facade–an innovation of the current monarch, Oba Ewuare II. Altars to the monarchs of the past, buried in the living quarters they once occupied, nonetheless remain the spiritual heart of this royal compound. Still, externals have always been important, for they reinforce the monarch’s ultimate social status.

Many of Benin’s architectural innovations began with the palace, whether they were Oba Esigie’s 16th-century introduction of a shingled roof, Oba Ovoranmwen’s late 19th-century novel use of corrugated metal sheeting for the same purpose, or his mirrored bedroom ceiling. Sumptuary laws still affect Benin architecture. Only the monarch and those chiefs to whom he grants the privilege may score their walls with the horizontal grooving (eken agben) that marks rank, a feature incorporated into current cement buildings, as well as older earthen construction techniques. When the latter were the norm, the palace had walls that were built from five to nine courses or layers high; most other citizens were limited to four, although a few privileged chiefs were permitted to have five. The earthen walls were thick—usually two to three feet at the base, thinning as they rose. That produced an insulating effect that, combined with shaded passages and the lack of exterior windows, helped to keep the interiors cooler.

Our knowledge of the original palace is limited. The first dynasty’s monarchs, known as the Ogiso, resided elsewhere in town, its location disputed. When the present Oranmiyan dynasty was initially established, the first few monarchs had their palace at Usama, in that sector of the city where the Usama chiefs who invited them lived. It was not until the reign of Oba Ewedo in the 14th century that the inner section of the town was breached. Ewedo built his palace where the royal residence still stands: land the indigenes had used as a cemetery. This ensured that the dynasty, which had entered Benin from the Yoruba city of Ile-Ife, had suzerainty over the ancestral forces that owned the land. While the palace's structures have changed significantly over time, what little archaeology has occurred took place on what were once palace grounds—small areas on the Benin Museum grounds and the site of the former Clerk's Quarters. Even those limited excavations revealing. Connah discovered segments of pottery shard pavements reminiscent of Ile-Ife, their date coinciding with the Oranmiyan dynasty’s establishment of the current palace site. These dropped out of use long ago.

Extensive decoration marked palace structures. In the 16th century, Oba Esigie constructed a reception hall whose wooden verandah supports were decorated by over 800 brass plaques depicting court officials, animals, Portuguese visitors, and other subjects. Royal ancestral altars bore cast metal heads, carved ivory tusks, brass figures, wooden staffs and other decorations. Walls included patterns beyond fluting, and sometimes incorporated modeled clay tableaux. Wooden lintels decorated with interlace motifs or carved figurative scenes were visible in passageways, and patterned brass sheets decorated some lintels and doors. Cowrie shells, a precolonial currency, were pressed into some clay flooring in the form of animals or courtiers, a practice that flaunted the Oba’s wealth.

The palace was once considerably larger than it is today. Seventeenth-century visitors remarked on its many galleries and courts, as well as the reflective surfaces of its burnished red earthen walls, described by the 17th-century author Dapper as “as shining as a looking glass.” Towers topped by brass birds standing over snakes were visible over the perimeter walls, making the Oba’s home larger, taller, and far more imposing than any other city buildings. Like many African households, space within the palace moved inward, from public to private. Large-scale activities took place in the open areas and forecourts, while reception areas ranged from royal encounters with chiefs, subjects, and visitors to more intimate ones. Despite its size and costly decorations, the palace's basic design--rooms arranged around open courtyards with impluvia, bordered by shaded galleries with a compluvium opening in at the center--was aligned with that of chiefs and other citizens. When an Oba joined his ancestors, he was buried in the courtyard that held his suite of personal rooms, and the altar erected over his grave served as a focus for sacrifice and ritual. When his successor took the throne, he had new personal quarters erected.

Destruction–both accidental and deliberate–encouraged innovations via rebuilding. Goodwin’s limited excavations revealed that a single segment of the former royal compound that showed evidence of four successive blazes. Accidental fires periodically occurred, as in 1922, but succession disputes caused Oba Ewuare I to burn both palace and town, while the short-reigned Oba Egbebo restricted himself to torching the palace. The British were responsible for the greatest palace devastation, however. In 1897, in retaliation for the death of a few Britons (who had been warned not to come) eager to force Benin to become part of a “Protectorate” and agree to exclusive trade, the British Navy led an assault on the city. They fought their way to the palace, which the monarch finally had vacated during the bombardment, and took possession of kingdom. They used explosives on the area bordering the palace, in order to, as Roth put it, “enable the invaders to defend their positions should the Binis return to the fight.” Clearing the shrines of their altarpiece decorations, they removed personal and state objects for shipment to Britain, where they subsequently were sold and scattered to museums and collections worldwide. While the soldiers were bivouacked in the royal compound, the palace and ultimately much of the surrounding Ogbe quarter caught fire and burned for three days. After clearing the debris, colonial administrators carved up the extensive grounds. Roads cut through the space; the current museum complex, Ring Road, the prison and the former Clerk's Quarters were all once part of the palace.

In 1914, after the death of his father, Oba Eweka II took the throne and began reconstructing both structures and altars. He created a large freestanding courtyard, the ugha, that included both a joint altar for all prior monarchs, whose quadrangles had been destroyed, and individual altars to his father Oba Ovoranmwen and his grandfather Oba Adolor. This quadrangle is the site of some of ceremonies held during the December/January festival period, including Ugie Erhoba, which honors the current monarch’s father, and Ugie Iron, which recreates a 16th-century power struggle.

His son Oba Akenzua II 's innovations included a billiards room and air conditioning. Akenzua's palace commissions to the artist Ovia Idah included an enshrined cement and clay figure of late 15th-century/early 16th century Oba Ozolua (made ca. 1947-50). Erected in the open area in front of the present palace, its position marks where his courtyard once stood. This open area hosts palace ceremonies such as Igu’Oba, which honors the monarch’s head and destiny, and Ugi’Ewere, the celebration that closes the festival season. Idah also produced cement and clay portraits of royals that were part the palace’s façade at that time. In the 1960s, he replaced these deteriorated palace decorations with five reliefs of monarchs and two of royal wives, the effect recalling both the clay reliefs on former palace pillars and the hundreds of 16th-century brass plaques Oba Esigie had cast and nailed to the wooden supports of his reception court.

Some of Oba Erediauwa’s subjects urged him to create a palace in contemporary style like those of certain of his Yoruba counterparts, but he was uninterested. At the time of his installation he did, however, replace the earthen palace entry with a steel gate, and introduced other innovations that were less noticeable.

Oba Ewuare II completely revamped the palace’s public face before his installation in October of 2016, although he retained most of the structures behind the façade, as well as the courtyard with ancestral altars. Color integrates old and new: the red roofs of the new structures harmonize with the palace’s earthen walls and a small section of the newly paved forecourt, while new white structures match the repainted cement sections of old buildings, the front fencing, and the bulk of the forecourt. The palace’s new entry building is a sizable two-story streamlined Neoclassical mansion, its entrance marked with a columned portico. The emphasis on red and white reflects these colors’ symbolic importance: white stands for purity and peace, and is the color associated with Olokun, the deity of the sea whose palace the monarch’s is said to imitate; red, on the other hand, is associated with power.

Today’s palace compound still includes a sacred grove, as well as a school for male pages, the Oba’s secretary's office, a library, and the Benin Traditional Council's suite, as well as the royal ancestral shrines, shrines to other deities, meeting and reception rooms, and the private quarters of the Oba and his wives. As residence, ritual and administrative center, and site of annual celebrations, the palace was and is physically the center of the Benin Kingdom's capital, with the main market located nearby. Through the centuries, its days were filled by chiefs, priests, citizens, and visitors, but at night it housed only the monarch, his wives, infant children, and male and female pages. Older royal children lived outside the palace and were raised by various chiefs.

Many parts of the palace are off-limits to most people. Chiefs belonging to the Eghaevbo n’Ogbe category are affiliated with one of three palace societies and have access only to general spaces and those quadrangles reserved for their specific group: Iwebo, the largest group, concerned mostly with administrative duties, public functions, and royal objects and dress; Iweguae, which cares for the Oba’s ancestors and his royal person; and Ibiwe, which looks after the harem and children. Courtyards have particular functions, as Dmochowski noted; one is devoted to the storage of state drums, another is earmarked for the enisen wardrobe officials. Many of the courtyards are site of altars to various deities, and include visible protective medicines. It is likely that the walls themselves contain amulets and other devices, for the British discovered certain bronzes within the walls, invisible to passers-by.

Even on a quiet day, the palace hosts numerous chiefs, pages, and visitors both lofty and humble. At times of royal ceremonies, its grounds flood with people. As an Edo proverb has it, "The palace full to capacity is the Oba's happiness."

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