Discover Lagos: History, Culture and Coastline

When considering Lagos as a travel destination, you can distinguish between the city’s history and other cultural and landscape themes across the wider Lagos destination. In the city, Freedom Park Lagos offers a tangible historical anchor. The park was rebuilt from the ruins of Her Majesty’s Broad Street Prisons to preserve Nigeria’s history and cultural heritage, and is located on Lagos Island within the city of Lagos.

Freedom Park Lagos: Place and Remembrance

In October 2010, Freedom Park Lagos commemorated the 50th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence. The occasion connects the history of the park project with a specific date in the nation’s history. Together with its origins in the prison ruins, this creates two historical points of reference: the site’s former use and Nigeria’s independence history. If you also take cultural themes into account when choosing a hotel, this connection can help guide your stay in Lagos.

Cultural Sites Across the Wider Lagos Destination

Beyond the city of Lagos, the wider Lagos destination includes other places with their own histories. Badagry and Oriade are examples within this broader area; the historical and cultural features below relate to these places, not to the city of Lagos.

In the Boekoh quarters of Badagry, Nigeria’s First Storey Building was built in June 1845 by Rev. C.A. Gollmer as a CMS vicarage. In 1846, Bishop Ajayi Crowder translated the English Bible into Yoruba there. The two dates highlight different aspects of the same building: first its original function, then a specific activity in linguistic and religious history. This helps place the site in context not only through its name, but also through the people and events associated with it.

The Eyo Festival is also part of the cultural context of the wider Lagos destination: it may be held to install a new head of an Iga (palace) or a new Oba.

Other named sites of remembrance and collections in Badagry relate to the slave trade. The Mobee Family Museum in the Boekoh quarters contains relics from the 16th- to 19th-century slave trade. The Badagry Heritage Museum was formerly the District Officer’s Office and was converted into a museum in 2002. The Barracoon in Badagry is now a small museum with artifacts relating to the transatlantic slave trade. The Badagry local government describes the Vlekete Slave Market as Nigeria’s largest and most populous slave market. These examples differ in focus: they include collections, a building’s former use, and an explicitly attributed historical classification.

In Oriade, other traditions take center stage: mat weaving is a local craft passed down through generations. Twelve Farm is an agricultural cultural site that presents local farming traditions. Together, these examples offer insight into both a traditional craft and agricultural traditions.

Coastal and Landscape Themes

On Lagos Island, you can enjoy views over the Lagos Lagoon. Other coastal features across the wider Lagos destination differ according to the specific characteristics described: Refiner Beach is a stretch of coastline with calm waters and natural beauty; Okun Ilashe Beach is a deep-water beach with diverse marine life and local fishing culture.

Ilashe Beach is a secluded beach accessible by boat, with golden sand. Koko Beach is an extensive coastline with a fresh sea breeze and fishing canoes. Taken together, the coastal themes range from water and marine life to fishing culture, sand, breezes and canoes. They showcase different landscape features across the wider Lagos destination.

The geographical distinction is important when planning your trip: Lagos as a city and the wider Lagos destination are two different levels. When looking for hotels, you can first decide which one will be the focus of your trip.

Discover more destinations: Badagry, Maryland, Obalende, Ojodu, ISAWO, Sangotedo, Ikorodu, Mushin

View the wider travel overview: Lagos.