History of Iyake Suspended Lake in Ado Awaye Oyo State

Beautiful IYAKE suspended lake in Ado Awaye. It is one of the only 2 hanging lakes worldwide & the only 1 in Africa. A special geological site of worldwide significance, right here in Yoruba land.

One of only two suspended lakes on top of a mountain in the world. It is situated in Ado Awaiye Iseyin, Oyó state, Nigeria.

The lake is believed to be bottomless and no one enters it and survives. 

History has it that beneath the lake lies another world, a parallel existence ruled over by a goddess of fertility who lives inside the lake.

It’s rumored that if one puts their foot in the hole near the lake known as Agbómofúnyàké (Yoruba for “collects child and gives to iyake”) when it’s filled with water, the person will be dragged to the bottom. 

The History behind it is intriguing.

Its name, Iyake, means “woman cry.” 

It is said by the locals that, a barren woman from Ota, Ogun State, migrated to Oyó during the ancient Oyó Empire. She was loved by many but her barrenness was mocked by some of the locals. Because she couldn't handle the mockery, she committed suicide by falling into the lake. Hence the name 'Iyake lake'.

Since then, according to sources, the lake was believed to cure barrenness ever since the said woman fell and died inside it. 

Also, locals in that area believed that if you pray with the water from the lake, bathe with it or drink it you won’t be barren; it will cure your barrenness if you are woman who is barren.

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