The apex of the Slaves’ Route is the «GATE OF NO RETURN», the only monument in Ouidah sponsored by the Slave Route Project. Situated at the end of the road, on the beach, the imposing gate was unveiled in November 1995, and still attracts numerous tourists and leading foreign visitors, such as the Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who visited the monument during his travel to the country in 2006.

The monument, designed and ornamented by Beninese artist Fortune Bandeira, evokes the monumental Soviet aesthetics that dominated the country’s public monuments until the beginning of the 1990s. Placed on a large cement platform, higher than the level of the ground, the Gate’s arcade marks the transition between the beach and the Atlantic Ocean, which is visible through it. On each side of the gate, giant copper sculptures created by Gnonnou Dominique Kouass, represent a group of captives breaking their chains. Close to the monument, tourists can stop at a kiosk to buy “African” sculptures, wooden masks, jewellery, and calabashes. In addition to these “authentic” objects, the visitors can also buy actual Vodun fetishes, taken from neighbouring temples. Ouidah, Benin.