Architectural, Cultural sights in Ethiopia
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A
Harari National Cultural Centre
Visiting a traditional Adare house is a must, but you'll probably need a guide to find one. The easiest house to find, not far from the Erer Gate (known locally as Argobari), houses the Harari National Cultural Centre. This typical Adare house contains examples of traditional arts and crafts.
Several Adare houses also double as family-run souvenir shops. If you don't buy anything, it's customary to tip the owner for the tour.
A distinct architectural feature in Harar, the gegar (traditional Adare house) is a rectangular, two-storey structure with a flat roof. The house is carefully constructed to remain cool whatever the outside temperature: clay reinforced with wooden…
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Fasiladas' Bath
Around 2km northwest of town centre lies Fasiladas' Bath, a shady, beautiful and historical spot attributed to both Fasiladas and Iyasu I.
The large, rectangular sunken pool is overlooked by a small but charming building, thought by some to be Fasiladas' second residence. Almost out of Cambodia's Angkor Thom, snakelike tree roots envelop, support and digest sections of the stone wall surrounding the pool.
Although the complex was used for bathing (royalty used to don inflated goatskin lifejackets for their refreshing dips!), it was likely constructed for religious celebrations, the likes of which still go on today. Once a year, Fasiladas' Bath is filled with water for…
reviewed
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Enda Iyesus
For as long as 5000 years, monoliths have been used in northeast Africa as tombstones and monuments to local rulers. In Aksum, this tradition reached its apogee. Like Egypt's pyramids, Aksum's stelae were like great billboards announcing to the world the authority, power and greatness of the ruling families. Aksum's astonishing stelae are striking for their huge size, their incredible, almost pristine, state of preservation, and their curiously modern look.
Sculpted from single pieces of granite, some look more like Manhattan skyscrapers than 1800-year-old obelisks, complete with little windows, doors and sometimes even door handles and locks! Metal plates, perhaps in the…
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B
Rimbaud's House
Near the middle of the walled city, Rimbaud's House is (yet another) building in which the poet is said to have lived. It was thoughtfully restored with the support of the Italian and French embassies. Although Rimbaud did live in the city, it is not thought to have been here. However, the building houses a new museum dedicated to the poet, with a series of illustrated panels (mainly in French) about his life.
On the 1st floor, don't miss the excellent turn-of-the-20th-century photographs of Harar - a fantastic step back in time. Another room holds changing exhibitions (often old photographs or paintings), and there's a small selection of traditional Adare arts and…
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C
Ras Tafari's House
Within pouncing distance of Rimbaud's House is the conspicuous Ras Tafari's House. The building has now been taken over by a local family including a holy man-cum-herbal healer. A sign declares that the sheikh can cure anything from STDs to diabetes, mental illness and cancer! Past patients - apparently testifying to his success - return to look after the holy man, cooking and cleaning for him for the rest of their lives.
The house was built by an Indian trader and many of its features, such as the Hindu figures on the door, are Oriental. Haile Selassie spent his honeymoon here, hence the house bears his pre-coronation name.
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D
Ras Mikael Sehul's Palace
Although simply a smaller version of Fasiladas' palace, this place has a slightly foreboding air. Perhaps it's because it was the residence of Ras Mikael, the dictator who usurped power at the 18th-century's end, as the monarchy became increasingly impotent and ineffectual. Later, the building was used - more chillingly - as a prison during the rule of the Derg, and is said to have been the site of untold brutality and torture.
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