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Sports

sport 

The beautiful landscapes of Ethiopia, with something wild and dramatic terrain, wonderful and unique flora and very rich fauna, make the country a unique one for different kinds of trekking.  Somehow strong, with long hours of trek, high slopes or elevate temperature; other less strenuous and more relaxing.

Some in areas with endemic mammals and flora (as the Semien and Bale mountains ones); others in unique people regions (as Surma’s people and forest area; or Afar and Danakil depression); then around historical places (Tigray churches; Mekdela battle and King Tewodros reign; Lalibela‘s rock-hewn churches, and more); or other. 

As previously described Ethiopia, the water tower of Africa, is rich of lakes and rivers, for both boating and/or rafting.


Boating both for discovering and admiring unique places and wildlife (as the monasteries on lake Tana’s islands, animals as crocodiles and hippos on lake Chamo, birds and fishes on lake Shalla, Abaya, Ziway), relaxing (as on lake Hora, Langano, Awassa) or water sports (recommended for natural discoveries around lake Langano, or just for different kind of sports as surf, paddling, diving, trekking, games and more).


Rafting is organized on Omo, Awash and Blue Nile Rivers, with very experienced and professional rafters, best equipment and services.


Fishing in Ethiopian lakes is another extremely relaxing sports, and lot of fishes are always found. Brown and rainbow trout abound in the torrents and rivers, as the one in Bale Mountain; while in the most Rift Valley lakes abound Nile perch, catfish, tilapia and Tiger fish. In many areas, particularly those with limestone crags, underground caves and cavers push you to Caving discoveries. As the Sof Omar cave system in Bale Park, crossed by Weib river. Or the longest cave system near Asebe Teferi, east of Ethiopia. In such a rugged environment, it is not surprising that many times can be better to move with horses or mules instead of vehicles. And this is a reason to practice and enjoy horse riding among nature, animals and people.


Cliff climbing experience cliff-climbing sports in wonderful areas of our country. With more than 800 bird species, including 30 endemics, Ethiopia is a popular destination for bird watching enthusiasts. Lots of itineraries are arranged for people with this interest. Hereunder shortly the areas where the main sport activities are practiced are mentioned:

1. Trekking Areas

  1. a)Semien Mountains National Park
  2. b)Bale Mountains National Park
  3. c)Surma people surroundings (also Dizi, Tishena, Zilmanso, Bume people and Omo park)
  4. d)The Danakil Depression & Afar people region
  5. e)Semien Mountains National Park – Sequota -(admiring unique view & rock-hewn churches)
  6. f)Lalibela and its External Churches (as Felakit - Debre Aron - Lalibela, or other)
  7. g)Meqdela (King Tewodros history)
  8. h)Semien Mountains - Debre Yared - Aderkai
  9. i)Tigray Rock – hewn churches
  10. j)Bethlehem church (Gondar)
  11. k)Addis Zemen –  Wohni Amba
  12. l)Selekleka – Meskel Kibra Monastery
  13. m)Zariema – Waldiba Monastery
  14. n)Debre Abay – Waldiba
  15. o)Mount Chilalo
  16. p)Mount Zuquala (near AA)
  17. q)Mount Kaka

 

  1. 2.Bird Watching

Menagesha, Awash Park, Rift valley lakes, Wondogenet, Bale Park, Debre Libannos, Southern Ethiopia, Historical areas. On different days basis. See par. E) Sports, under E.2)

  1. 3.Boating Areas

Lake Tana, lake Chamo, lake Shalla, Lake Abaya, Lake Ziway, lake Hora, lake Langano, lake Awassa

4. Fishing

a) Lake Tana

b) Lake Langano

c) Bale Mountains – (Weib River)

d) Lake Chamo

e) Lake Awassa

G) Lake Ziway

H) Lake Hora

I) Lake Abaya & Chamo

j) Lake Shalla

k) Lake Ashenghie (rarely)

M) Lake HAIQ

5. Rafting

a) Omo River

b) Awash River

c) Abay (Nile) River

d) Baro River

6. Automobile Racing (international)

7. Horse Riding

8. Abeba Bikila Memorial International Annual Athletics Tournament

 

Tourist Paradise


ethiopia

Ethiopia is truly a tourist paradise-beautiful, secretive, mysterious and extraordinary. Above all things, it is a country of great antiquity, with a culture and traditions back more than 3,000 years. The traveler in Ethiopia makes a journey through time, transported by beautiful monuments and the ruins of edifices built long centuries ago.

Omo Valley… Africa’s White-Water rafting location

Reckoned by enthusiasts to be one of Africa’s premier locations for white-water rafting, the Omo River’s early fury takes it through gorges hundreds of meters deep over fish and the huge shapes of crocodiles and hippos.

On the final leg of its journey south to Turkana, the Omo forms the border between kefa and Gamo Gofa provinces. It is here that Ethiopia’s largest nature sanctuary, the Omo National Park- one of the richest in spectacle and game and yet one of the least- visited areas on East and Central Africa- is located. And another sanctuary, the Mago National park, has been established on the eastern bank of the river: a land of endless, distant horizons.

Both parks can offer amazing spectacles of big game and have the merit, also, of being far off the beaten track. Virtually unexplored, they are places in which game can be seen in a truly natural state. Most easily reached from the town of Jinka, Mago National Park is mainly savannah, with some forested areas around the river, it was set up to conserve the large number of plain animals in the area, particularly buffalo, giraffe and elephant the birds are typical of the dry grassland habitat- bustards, hornbills, weavers and starlings. Kingfishers and heroines feed in and around the Neri River, which provides and alternative habitat. Adjoining Mago the large and beautiful Omo National Park has hardly been visited in the past two decades, as getting there has been so difficult. 

The parks are extensive wilderness areas, where wildlife can be prolific: large herds of eland, buffalo, elephant, giraffe, cheetah, lion, leopard and Burchell’s zebra. Greater and lesser kudu, lelwel hartebeest, topi, gerenuk and Oryx are all resident species as well as deBrazza’s colombus monkeys and Anubis baboon the 306 bird species recorded include many that will be familiar to east Africa visitors.

 

 

Nature and wildlife


wildEthiopia’s mountains rise up to a height of over 4000 meters, with Mount Batu the second highest peak on Ethiopia rising to 4,307 meters. The national parks enable the visitor to enjoy the country’s scenery and its wildlife, conserved in natural habitats. And offer opportunities for travel adventure unparalleled In Africa.


The Simien Mountain massif is a broad plateau, cut off to the north and west by an enormous single crag over 60 kilometers long. To the south, the tableland slopes gently down to 2,200 meters, divided by gorges 1,000 meters deep which can take more than two days to cross. Insufficient geological time has elapsed to smooth the contours of the crags and buttresses of hardened basalt.

Within this spectacular splendor live the Walia (Abyssinian) ibex, Simien red fox and Galada baboon - all endemic to Ethiopia as well as the Hamadryas baboon, klipspringer and bushbuck. Birds such as the lammergeyer, augur buzzard, Verreaux’s eagle, kestrel and falcon soar above this mountain retreat. Twenty kilometers north-east of Gondar, the Simien Mountains National Park covers 179 square kilometers of highland area at an average elevation of 3,300 meters. Ras Dashen, at 4,620 meters the highest peak in Ethiopia, stands adjacent to the park.

The Simien escarpments, which are often compared to the Grand Canyon in the United State of America, have been named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.     


Ethiopia boasts seven of the Great Rift Valley lakes. Some are alkaline brown, yet surprisingly good swimming; some are topical in setting; some are bordered or fed by hot mineral springs; some play host to large flocks of flamingos, pelicans, cormorants, herons, storks and ibises; with 831 recorded bird species, Ethiopia is a bird watcher’s paradise.

Ethiopia’s Lake Tana is the source of Blue Nile. The lake is dotted with island monasteries, which house many treasures of medieval art. Only 30 kilometers from the lake, the river explodes over Tis Isat falls (meaning ‘smoke of fire’) - a sight that inspired wonder from the 18th century explorer, James Bruce. Before the Blue Nile joins the White Nile, which flows north from Lake Victoria, it runs for 800 kilometers through one of the world’s deepest and most dramatic gorges. 


Awash National park is the oldest and most developed wildlife reserve in Ethiopia. Featuring the 1,800 meter Fantalle Volcano, numerous mineral hot-springs and extraordinary volcanic formations, this natural treasure is bordered to the south by the Awash River and lines 225 Kilometers east of the capital, Addis Ababa.

The wildlife consists mainly of East African plains animals, but there are now no giraffe or buffalo. Oryx, bat-eared fox, caracal, aardvark, colombus and green monkeys, Anubis and Hamadryas baboons, klipspringer, leopard, bushbuck, hippopotamus, Soemmering’s gazelle, cheetah, lion, kudu and 450 species of birds of all kind live within the park’s 720 square kilometers.


The Bale Mountains with their vast moorlands- the lower reaches covered with St. John ’s Wort- and their extensive heathland, virgin woodlands, pristine mountain streams and alpine climate remain an untouched and beautiful world. Rising to a height of more than 4,000 meters, the range borders Ethiopia’s southern highlands, whose highest peak, Mount Tullu, Demtu, stands at 4,377 meters.

The establishment of the 2,400 square kilometer Bale Mountains National park was crucial to the survival of the Mountain Nyala, Menelik’s bushbuck and the simian red fox. This fox is one of the most colorful members of the dog family and more abundant here than anywhere else in Ethiopia. All three endemic animals thrive in this environment, the nyala in particular being seen in large numbers. The Bale Mountains offer some fine high-altitude terrain for horse and foot trekking, and the streams of the park- which become important rivers further downstream are well-stocked with rainbow and brown trout.


Some time in the distant past, one of the big rivers originating in the Bale Mountains changed its course, going underground and disappearing under a hill.  Before coming out at the other end a kilometer on, it had created a network of some 16km of limestone caverns full of cathedral-like vaults and 20 meter high pillars. Named after a medieval Muslim leader, Sheik Sof Omar, who apparently used them as a refuge or hermitage, the Sof Omar Caves remain an important shrine and site of pilgrimage for Muslims.  Local tradition holds that the Sof Omar Cave system extends all the way to Somalia.  Sof Omar lies about 100km east of the Bale Mountains National Park.


The Baro river area, accessible by land or air through the western Ethiopian town of Gambela, remains a place of adventure and challenge. Travelling across the endless undulating plains of high Sudanese grass, visitors can enjoy a sense of achievement in simply finding their way around. These are Ethiopia’s true tropical zone and here are found all the elements of the African safari, enhanced by distinctly Ethiopian flavor. Nile perch weighing 100 kilos can be caught in the waters of Baro, snatched from the haws of the huge crocodiles that thrive along the riverbank. The white eared-kob als haunts the Bari, along with other riverbank residents that include the Nile lechwe, buffalo, giraffe ,tiang,  waterbuck, roan antelope, zebra, bushbuck, Abyssinian reedbuck, warthog, hartebeest, lion, elephant and hippopotamus.


This is the most remote, least developed, and so least accessible and the largest (3,450 square km) of Ethiopia’s national parks. It is also the most plentiful of the usual African big game with a great variety of bird species. The park occupies the southern west bank of the Omo River.


With an area of 2,162 square km and at 770 k from Addis Ababa, Mago National Park is one of the relatively more accessible and thus more frequented parks because it offers a combination of great camping environment, game viewing and tribal people close by. Mago lies opposite the Omo National Park on the eastern bank of the river.  Among the 81 mammal species recorded for Mago and relatively easy to see are herds of Elephant, Buffalo, Swayne’s Oryx, Greater and Lesser Kudu.  With some persistence, it is possible to see lions, Cheetah, Leopard and Giraffe. Some 153 species of birds have been identified in the Mago National Park.


Some 300 km east of the Omo, Nech Sar embraces the eastern shores of the two southernmost of Ethiopia’s Rift Valley Lakes, Abaya and Chamo. The park was established as a sanctuary for the endangered endemic Swayne’s Hartebeest.  But no less than 84 mammals and 343 bird species have also been recorded in the park.  The bluff between the two lakes and by the park headquarters has some wonderful rain forest with great camping sites.  Although it lies outside the town of Arba Minch so named because of the 40 springs found also in the bluff.


Using lake Langano as a base (225 km from the capital, and the only blaneable lakes of the Rift), it is an easy side trip to visit the Abijatta-shalla lakes National Park, 887 sq. km, 482 of it water. Are both terminal lakes but very different in nature. Surrounded mainly by acacia woodland, Lake Abijatta is a shallow pan 14 meter deep saline beach. While Lake Shalla is at 260 meter deep (Ethiopian deepest Rift Valley lake, possibly the deepest lake in Africa north of Equator), with several hot springs, rocky, salted, with few fishes.

Many birds, as white pelicans, greater and lesser flamingo, white-necked cormorant, African fish eagle, Egyptian geese, herons and more leave here together with greater-kudu, oribi, warthog and golden jackal.

Other equally important parks to be visited are yangudi Rassa, Gambella National park & many other wildlife sanctuaries.

Apart from its historic sites, beautiful scenery, wildlife sanctuaries and other things, Ethiopia is a home for people of unique cultures and ways of life, especially to the south of the country. You will be experiencing people of extraordinary ways of life. Many of these people, despite the world around them, have preserved a cultural way.

Just to mention some names:

- Omotic people around the Mago National Park and below Arba Minch and Awassa towns: the Konso, Borena, Tsemay, Ari, Benna, Mursi, Karo, Bume, Dassanech, Hammer, Erbore, Dorze people…

- On the west bank of Omo river and up to around Gambel town (part of them Nilo-Saharian people): surma, Dizi, Tishena, kitchepo, Anuak, Nuer,….

East Ethiopia: Kereyou, Afar and Issa. All with unique traditions and cultures.

We can mention Konso’s terracing agricultural, wooden totems and unique tradition: Dorze’s intricately woven houses and their woven cotton clothes, false banana and sorghum cultivations and more; Mursi and Surma’s men scarification and women wooden or terra-cotta disks into the ears and lips for beauty; Hammer, Karo, Dassanech, Erbore, Tsemay and others elaborated hairstyles, many form of gleaming adornments, men carve deep incisions on their arms and women in their body, and body painting (using clays and locally available vegetable pigments) on face, chest, arms and legs, and so on. But also their ceremonies make them unique. As Hammer people marriage ceremony, with women’s slashing and men’s jumping of the bull; Mursi and Surma game of the Donga (a ritual stick fighting), and many others.

 

Culture

 


cultureETHIOPIA, like many other Africa countries, is a multi-ethnic state. Many distinctions have been blurred by intermarriage over the years but many also remain. The differences may be observed in the number of languages spoken, galling into four main language groups: Semitic, Cushitic, Omotic and Nilo-Saharan. There are 200 different dialects. The Semitic languages of Ethiopia are related to both Hebrew and Arabic, and derived from Ge’ez the ecclesiastical language. The principle Semitic language spoken in the north-west and central part of the country is Amharic, which is also the official language of the modern state. Other main languages are Tigrigna, Gumuz, Berta and Anuak.  The Tigrigna and Amharic- speaking people of the north of the country are mainly agriculturalists, tilling the soil with ox-drawn ploughs and growing teff (local millet), wheat barley, maize and sorghum. The most southerly of the Semitic speakers, the Gurage, are also farmers and herders, but many are also craftsmen. The Gurage grow enset ’false banana’, whose root, stem and leaf stalks provide a carbohydrate which, after lengthy preparation, can be made into porridge or unleavened bread. The Cushitic Oromo, formerly nomadic pastoralists, are mainly engaged in agriculture and, in the more arid areas, cattle- breeding. The Somali, also pastoral nomads, gorge are living in hot and arid bush country, while the Afar, semi-nomads, and forge a living in hot and arid bush country. While the afar, semi-nomadic pastoralists and fishermen are the only people who can survive in the hostile environment of the Danakil Depression. Living near the Omo River are the Mursi, well-known for the clay discs that the women wear inserted in a slit in their lower lips.

The people of Ethiopia wear many different types of clothing. The traditional dress of the Christian highland people has traditionally been of white cotton cloth. Since the time of emperor Tewodros II (mid-1800s) men have worn long, jodhpur-like trousers, a tight-fitting shirt and a shamma (loose warp). The Muslims of Harar, by contrasts, wear very colorful dress, the men in shortish trousers and a colored wrap and the women in fine dresses of red, purple and black.

The lowland Somali and afar wear long, brightly colored cotton wraps, and Oromo and Bale people are to be seen in the bead-decorated leather garments that reflect their economy, which is based on livestock. Costumes to some extent reflect the climates where the different group live - highlanders, for instance use heavy cloth capes and wrap-around blankets to combat the night chill. In the heat of the lowland plains, light cotton cloths are all that is required by men and women alike. Traditional dress, though much of the countryside. National dress is usually worn for festivals when street and meeting places are transformed into a sea of white as finely woven cotton dresses, wraps decorated with colored woven borders, and suits are donned.

A distinctive style of dress is found among the Oromo horsemen of the central highlands, who, on ceremonial days such as Meskal, attire themselves in lions’ manes of baboon - skin head - dresses, carrying spears and hippo-hide shields and ride down to the main city squares to participate in the parades. Ethiopia are justifiable proud of their range of the traditional costumes. The most obvious identification of the different groups is in the jewelry, the hair styles and the embroidery of their clothes. The women of Amahra and Tigray wear dozens of plaits (sheruba), tightly bridled to the head and billowing out at the shoulders. The women of Harar part their hair in the middle and make a bun behind each ear. Hamer, Geleb, bume and Karo men form a ridge of plaited hair and clay to hold their feathered headgear in place. Arsi women have fringes and short, bobbed hair. Bale girls have the same, but cover their heads shaved jewelry in silver and gold with amber or glass beads is worn by both Muslims and Christians.

Heavy brass, copper and ivory bracelets and anklets are also worn, Ethiopia also has a rich tradition of both secular and religious music, singing, and dancing, as well as religious festivals and ceremonies surrounding life’s milestones-birth, marriage and death.

Traditional musical instrument in widespread use include the massinko, a one- stringed violin played with a bow; the krar, a six- stringed lyre, played with the fingers or a plectrum; the washint, a simple flute; and three types of drum-the negrait (kettledrum), played with sticks, the kebero, played with the hands and the atamo, tapped with the fingers or palm. Other instruments includes the begena, a huge, multi- stringed lute often referred to as the Harp of David; the tsinatseil, or sistrum, which is used in church music; the meleket; a long trumpet without finger holes, and the embilta, a large, simple, one-note flute used on ceremonial occasions.

 

History Glimpse


history

Ethiopia is a land of endless mysteries in its geology, in the diversity of its animal and plant life, in its tumultuous national history and the rich culture of its people.  Church scholars reckon Ethiopian history spans 7,492 years going by its own chronology and calendar, from the time of Genesis to the present.  The name Ethiopia, meaning “land of burnt face” in Greek, according to one derivation, was already known in 3000 B.C.  Records going back to 6000 years tell of Egyptians diplomatic missions and trade expeditions to Punt. This was a kingdom on the Horn of Africa that thrived for a thousand years, controlling both sides of the Red Sea from centers in what is present day Ethiopia.

Archaeological findings abound in Ethiopia, covering sites stretching from the Omo River Valley in the east.  These consist of hominid remains dating up to four million years old, some of the earliest man-made tools ever recorded and imprints of human settlement said to be no less than one and half million years old. All this has earned Ethiopia the epithet “cradle of mankind!”


Legend has it that Emperor Menelik I, the son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, brought the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to Axum, where he settled and established one of the world’s longest known, uninterrupted monarchical dynasties. This is only one example of Ethiopian’s magnificent history, which encompasses legend and tradition, mystery and fact, from a powerful and religious ancient civilization.

Judging by the story of Queen of Sheba and Kong Solomon recounted in the Old Testament and elaborated at great length in the Ethiopian epic, the Kebre Negest (Glory of the Kings), the rest of the world commonly acknowledges 3000 years of Ethiopian civilization. Comparing the history of most of the countries of the world, a national legacy of even 3000 years is quite remarkable.  This is specially so when that means an uninterrupted and independent march of history of a people, organized as a polity, answering to very much the same set of self-identifying values and symbols, and occupying more or less the same geographical area.

The well-trodden path through Ethiopia’s famous and fascinating historic site takes you through a scenic, magnificent world of fairy-tale names, such as Lalibela, Gondar, Debre Damo and Bahar Dar. Travelling the route by plane, car or both will offer you a glimpse into a truly remarkable past. As well as many priceless historical relics, you will also see the castles at Gondar, the churches of Lalibela - hewn out of living rock, the mysterious giant stelae at Axum, the ruins of the Queen Sheba’s palace, and the monastery at Debre Damo, whose access is limited to men and only by way of a rope lowered by the friendly monks above.

Taking the historic route north from Addis Ababa, the first stop is Debre Markos, 305 kilometers north of the capital. Here you will find the 19th century Church of Markos (Saint Mark), with its pale but beautiful paintings depicting scenes of biblical and religious history. 


bahir

Bahar Dar, the next stop, is 578 kilometers from Addis Ababa, has daily Ethiopian Airlines flights and a number of good hotels, and is located on the southern shores of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, with its ancient island monasteries and both the Blue and the White Nile’s most spectacular feature, the Tsi isat waterfalls.

On the island of Dega Estefanos, you will find the church of Saint Stefanos which has a priceless collection of icons and manuscripts and houses the mummified remains of a number of Ethiopian emperors.

For the modern traveller, the starting point of any visit to the Blue Nile Falls, or to the islands of Lake Tana, is the bustling market town of Bahar Dar on the lake’s south-eastern shore. The colorful markets and a variety of handicrafts and weaving centers also make it a comfortable base for excursion by land or water. Bahar Dar port provides access by boat to a number of historic lake-side churches and monasteries near and far. Most date from the 17th century and have beautifully painted walls. Many such places of worship now have fascinating museums, at which the visitors can see priceless illustrated manuscripts, historic crowns and fine and royal and ecclesiastical robes. Some monastic islands are forbidden to women, but others can be visited by both sexes.

Visitors to Bahar Dar can also see tankwas, locally made canoes, made out of the papyrus reeds growing by the lake shore, as well as a historic old building erected in St. Georges church compound, by the 17th century Spanish Jesuit, pero paes.


gondar

The next stop on the historic route is Gondar, the graceful city was Ethiopia’s capital until the reign of the would-be reforming Emperor Tewodros II, also known as Theodore. During its long years as a capital, the settlement emerged as one of the largest and most popular cities in the realm. It was a great commercial center, trading with the rich lands south of the Blue Nile, as well as with Sudan to the west, and the Red Sea port of Massawa to the north-east.

Gondar is famous for its many medieval castles and design and decoration of its churches. The earliest of the castles was created by Fasilidas himself and is still in such an excellent state of repair that it is possible to climb its stairs all the way to the roof, which commands a breathtaking view over much of the city. Beside the famous palaces, visitors should inspect the so-called ‘bathing place of Emperor Fasildas’, which is used for the annual Timket or Epiphany celebrations, and the abbey of the redoubtable eighteenth century Empress Mentewab at Qwesquam, in the mountains just outside Gondar.  Debre Birhan Selassie Church, is the only church that survived the repeated destructions of Gondar at hands of the Dervish, Tewodros, the Italians and the British, besides the eleven or so castles and related buildings of the 17th century. The church is a rich showcase of the religious art of the Gondar period and its ceiling of painted angels is only one of its kind.


lalibela

There exist ancient rock edifices in Korea, Jordan and no doubt, in many other places around the world. In Ethiopia itself, there are over 50 different regions where rock churches can be found – stretching as far south as Goba (bale) and as far west as Bonga (Keffa). In Tigray region alone, there are over 100 rock churches.

Hundreds of miles to the south and east of Axum is another ancient settlement, Lalibela, is a city carved from legend - a mediaeval settlement in the Lasta area of Wollo that is the site of eleven remarkable rock-hewn monolithic churches believed to have been built by King Lalibela in the late 12th or early 13th century. These notable structures are carved inside and outside of the solid rock, and are considered among the wonders of the world. Each building is architecturally unique, and several of them are decorating with fascinating rock paintings. The unadulterated biblical atmosphere and vivid local color of the Timket celebrations provide an ideal opportunity to see Lalibela as a sacred center whose roots go back to man’s very early years.

Lalibela has the highest concentration of churches of such architectural elegance and overall engineering sophistication in one spot.  Their lighting systems, channels, water works, network of interconnected subterranean passageways and the sheer magnitude of the whole project are mind boggling – just the excavated material is estimated to be enough to make 10 of the Great Pyramid of Egypt.  The churches are attributed to King Lalibela (ca 1200 AD) who was later canonized by the Ethiopian church and is referred to by Europeans as the legendary Prester John. Their impact is so great that the first Europeans as the legendary Prester John. Their impact is so great that the first European to see them, the Portuguese Priest Father Francisco Alvarez, despaired of being believed by his compatriots and cut short his report.

Anointed king under the throne name Gebre Meskel (servant of the cross), King Lalibela is said to have taken 24 years to construct these churches.  There are three different types of churches:

  1. 1.Built-up cave churches: ordinary structure built inside a natural cave. Makina Medhane Alem and Yemrehanna Kristos near Lalibela are good examples.
  2. 2.Rock-hewn cave churches: carved inwards from a cliff face and sometimes making use of and widening an already existing cave. Aba Libanos, Bete Meskel and Bete Denagil in Lalibela belong to this group.
  3. 3.Rock-hewn monolithic churches: hollowed in the ground, cut out in one piece from the rock and separated from it all round by a trench except at theirBete Medhane Alem, Bete Mariam, Bete Emmanuel and the cruciform Bete Giorgis are Lalibela’s outstanding monolithic masterpieces.

Genete Mariam (the paradise of Mary): interestingly enough most of the Lalibela churches are hidden in their pits and invisible until one comes directly next to them. By contrast the monolithic Genete Mariam stands out in the midst of the green clump of euphorbia as a massive block of pink tuff.  Also unlike most of the Lalibela churches, its rich painting displays a style that is characterized as “arcaic” (10th century perhaps) with an eclectic array of motifs alluding to both Eastern and Western traditions.

Yimrehanna Kristos (Christ show us the way):  This exquisite church, a masterpiece of Axumite wood and stone (so-called sandwich style) construction is renowned for its interior decoration, its beautiful wooden coffer ceiling inlaid with hexagons and medallions with both figurative and geometric motifs.  The founder of the church, King Yimrehanna Kirstos, was the predecessor of King Lalibela.  The church is located six hours away by foot and mule on the mountain ridge with peak Abune Yosef peering in the sky to the northeast of the town Lalibela.

Naakute Laab Church: In 1270 AD King Naakute Laab of the Zagwe dynasty of Lalibela, at the behest of the influential monk (later saint) Tekle Haimanot, abdicated in favor of Emperor Yekuno Amlak belonging to the Solomonic dynasty. The church in a cave where Naakute Laab went to lead a hermit’s life is a charming place in a dramatic setting.  The church has one of the most interesting collections of ancient crosses, illustrated manuscripts and other icons, some of which are attributed to its founder Naakute Laab.

Mekane Medhane Alem: This is another interesting case of an Axumite style church in a cave. It is east of Lalibela (two hours climb above Genee Mariam) on the eastern slopes of Mount Makina, another spur of Abune Yosef.

The above mentioned sanctuaries happen to be the most fascinating and relatively easy to access. But, for those with time, fitness and enough interest in the subject, Lasta, the province where Lalibela is located, has many wonderful shrines in the most dramatic of settings. Some of these are:

-          Asheten Mariam -hidden under the ledge in the mountain overlooking the town of Lalibela in the east.

-          Abratu Enssessa – the four animals or beasts

-          Bilbala Giorgis

-          Bilbala Cherqos

-          Sarana Michael

 


axum

Northern Ethiopian’s ancient city of Axum is the country’s oldest extant urban settlement. Once the capital and a major religious centre, it remains the site of many remarkable antiquities, including the famous monolithic obelisks, or stelae, important stone inscription, the remains of spectacular places and graves, and a special gold- silver-and-bronze currency.

The city, with its history church of St. Mary of Tseyon (Zion), is a must for the tourist and any serious student of Ethiopia’s history and culture. Axum grew to importance in classical antiquity – the millennium which included the birth of Christ. The Axumite kingdom emerged as the most powerful Red sea state between the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia, a great commercial power trading with Egypt, probably Palestine, Arabia, India and Ceylon (now Sir Lanka). The Axumites also had significant trading land contacts with religions to the west and south, some of which were gradually brought into Axum’s economy and later political orbit. After its conversion to Christianity, early in the fourth century, Axum also emerged as an important religious center, site of the country’s most important and revered Church of St. Mary of Tseyon, which, according to Ethiopian tradition, is the repository of the biblical Art of the Covenant. Axum’s importance survived its political decline, between the seventh and 10th centuries. A number of years later Ethiopian Emperors – all who could do so –went to the city for their coronation. Axum so impressed 19th – century British traveler Theodore bent that he describe it at length in his classic travelogue. The Sacred City of the Ethiopians.


Much has been written about Axum’s famous monolithic obelisks, or stelae, cut out of the hardest granite, some no more than rudely fashioned stone a little larger than a human being , but others massive and beautifully carved monuments which once towered into the sky. The finest represent multi-storeyed houses, with a ground-floor door, complete with a door handle, and windows on each ‘floor’.

In its heyday Axum had three main obelisks. The largest, now fallen and broken into several pieces, is the biggest block of stone ever worked on by humanity anywhere in the world. It was a remarkably impressive piece of workmanship, representing a palace of no less than 12 storeys. Many Ethiopians long for the day when it will be erected again on its original site.

The second obelisk is some 10 meters shorter, and stands a little away from the great fallen monolith. It was described early in the 19th century by the British traveler Henry Salt as the most admirable and perfect monument of its kind.

Exactly between these two obelisks stood a third monolith, slightly larger than the second, and better carved. This Obelisk collapsed and broke into three large pieces. This was taken to Rome, orders given by the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and erected in 1937 in front of FAO. Nineteenth April 2005, saw the return of this famous Obelisk back to Axum.


yeha

The journey through Ethiopia’s historic route takes you on rough tracks, through dramatic highland scenery and eventually ends in a beautiful and scenery agriculture hamlet.  It is here that you may see the towering ruins of Yeha’s Temple of the Moon, an imposing rectangular edifice built more than 2,500 years ago. The temple speaks eloquently of the works of an early high civilization, although little is actually known amount the people who built this great edifice.

Yeha, in the administrative region of Tigray, was possibly Ethiopia’s oldest major settlement. An hour-and-a-half’s drive from the ancient city of Axum, with at least one obligatory photo stop on the journey, it is little more than five kilometers from the modern commercial center of Adwa. Yeha, which is set amid imposing mountain scenery, is well worth visiting. It is the site of the country’s most ancient temple, a remarkable huge stone structure, and a fine and richly endowed Ethiopian church of more modern times. The ancient city of Yeha was first described in the early 16th century by the intrepid Portuguese traveler Francisco Alvares, who was struck, like so many foreign visitors after him, by the age-old temple. He described it as ‘a very large and handsome tower, both for its height and the good workmanship of its walls’.

It had, he adds, ‘the look of a regal building, all of well-hewn stone, and was surrounded by good houses, which match well with it, and good walls and terraces above, like the residences of Great Lords’ .

The good houses, ‘like the residence of Great Lords’, have long since disappeared, but the ‘very large and handsome tower’ , in fact all that remains of an immense temple dating back to pre- Christianity times, is still standing, more or less perhaps as Alvares saw almost half a millennium ago.

This fine old building, according to the 19th- century German scholar Heinrich Muler, probably dated back to about 700 or 800 years before the birth of Christ. The temple stands on small hill, at the foot of a nearby mountain, with a reasonable sized village of traditional Tigray- style houses nearby. The temple, which is reminiscent of those in Yemen and other parts of south Arabia, consists of large smoothly polished stone blocks, some as much as 300 centimeters long, neatly placed one above or beside another, without any apparent use of mortar. The roof and the west wall are both missing, but several square holes in the remaining walls toward the east of the structure indicate where partitions, probably of wood, and stood.                  


debre

Some four hours drive from Axum - plus a further two hours stiff uphill walk from the point where the road ends - lies the monastery of Debre Damo, situated on a cliff top in one of the widest parts of Tigray, Debre Damo, unique and unforgettable. The bluff on which Debre Damo stands is a real - life Shangri-La. Remote and beautiful, far from the hustle and bustle of the 21st century, the cool celestial island of rock offers panoramic views over the surrounding countryside and complete seclusion and peace for the hundred or so monks and deacons who live there. The monastery’s treasures include and extensive collection of illuminated manuscripts and the intricate carvings on the beams and ceiling of the ancient church around which the monastery is built.    


The 1868 English expedition against Emperor Tewodros and to take Meqdela, the biggest such campaign of the British Empire, was shown an “astonishing church carved into a rocky outcrop”. For a while, this was assumed by the outside world to be the only one of its kind in Tigray. As recently as 1963, when supposedly a full list of Ethiopia’s rock-hewn churches was published, only nine churches were recorded for Tigray. Since then, no less than 123 have been discovered, three-quarters of which are apparently still in use as normal parish churches or monastic communities.  Most of these are found along the Adigrat-Mekele road or else they can be reached from there.  At least a week is required to visit the most interesting of them. Wukro Cherkos rock-hewn church is definitely the most accessible in Tigray and one of the most impressive even though it falls a little short of being monolith.


This village is the site of the first Muslim settlement granted to Islamic refugees by the King of Axum at the time of Mohammed in 7th century AD.  The present day mosque is said to stand on the site of the original, also dating back to the 7th century.  The shrine has great significance to Ethiopian Muslims and is the focus of an annual pilgrimage and festival.


harar

No journey along Ethiopia’s fabled historic route would be complete without a visit to the medieval walled city of Harar, which stands amid green mountains on the east wall of the Great Rift Valley. Harar’s heritage is almost entirely Muslim and Oriental.

Harar has probably always had a great deal more in common with the Horn’s coastal culture than with the life of the highlands – and it retains to this day a certain redolence of the Orient. The most dominant features, apart from its strong encircling walls, is its rich and exciting market place - probably the most colorful in Ethiopia. Its Islamic character is best expressed in the Grand Mosques (Al Jami), which dominates the town.

Rightly renowned for its intricately worked filigree jewelry of silver, gold amber, Harar’s Megalo Guso market is also a center for beautiful baskets of woven grass, decorative wall-mats and bright shawls, as well as all the fruits, vegetables, spices and grains of the province. Harar’s five gates - the only means to enter or leave the city center - have been strongly guarded over the years.


dere

Today much bigger, more industrial and generally more commercial and enterprising than Harar, Dire Dawa is a fairly new city by Ethiopian standards. It came into being as a phenomenon of the Djibouti-Addis Ababa Railway line that reached Dire Dawa in 1902. The two cities are 54 km apart.

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