Efon-Alaaye

Efon-Alaaye is a Yoruba town in the hills of western Ekiti State, near the border with Osun State. Oral tradition traces its founding to around the 12th–13th century — one account credits Obalufon Alaayemo, a son of Oduduwa and third Ooni of Ile-Ife, as founder and first Alaaye (the title borne by Efon-Alaaye's kings); another attributes it to a leader named Iji-Emigun leading a migration from Igbole-Aye. The kingship rotates among three ruling houses — Ogbenuote, Obologun, and Asemojo — and the reigning Alaaye is assisted by six high chiefs overseeing the town's six major districts, known as the iwara mefa. The town's hilly terrain historically made its people notably independent and martially assertive within Yorubaland.

• Efon hills — the hilly terrain that gives the town its distinctive setting and shaped its history as an independent hilltop kingdom.
• Palace of the Alaaye — the traditional seat of Efon-Alaaye's rotating kingship.