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 Ethiopia's wealth of historic sites, and an identity defined by its own history and diverse cultures rather than by colonialism, is what distinguishes it from most other African destinations. The best known historic sites – Axum, Lalibela, Gondar and Bahir Dar – make up the Historic Route. Axum was the seat of an Empire which extended across the Red Sea to Arabia, traded with India and China, had its own alphabet and notational system, constructed great engineering works and dams and which was reckoned in the 4th century to be one of the four great powers of the ancient world. |
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Today the visitor can see stelae (the largest single pieces of stone erected anywhere in the world), the tombs and castles of kings, Axum Museum and Mariamtsion Church, built on the site of Ethiopia's first church. A chapel within the church compound is believed by Ethiopian Orthodox Christians to house the Ark of the Covenant (see Graham Hancock's The Sign and the Seal). A visit to Axum can be extended to take in the 800 BC pre-Axumite temple at Yeha, 55 km east of Axum, and a little further, the 7 th century monastery at Debre Damo. Women are not allowed, and the only access is by rope.
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At the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries King Lalibela of the Zaghwe dynasty built a series of rock hewn churches, the New Jerusalem, now rightly categorised as one of the wonders of the world. There are 11 churches within the town named after him, and outlying churches that can be visited on a second day . All are still in use today. It is estimated that the churches in Lalibela took 25 years to construct – for the Kingdom based on Roha (later renamed Lalibela) to have kept a large work force engaged in economically unproductive labour for such a long period means that it disposed of a large economic surplus and was very wealthy. The area then was clearly fertile and agriculturally productive, whereas now deforestation and other forms of ecological degradation have made it barren and prone to drought. |
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Gondar was the capital of the Ethiopian Empire from the 17th to mid 19th centuries and is distinguished by its castles and imperial compound and by its churches, particularly Debre Berhan Selassie, the walls and ceiling of which are completely covered in murals. Bahir Dar is situated on Lake Tana, which is dotted with island monasteries and churches.
Many are closed to women, but the churches on the Zeghie Peninsula, with their excellent murals, are open to both sexes. South of the Lake is the source of the Nile, which feeds into Lake Tana and exits north of Bahir Dar to create the spectacular Blue Nile Falls some 30 km downstream.
Ethiopia has a unique history… HORIZON is pleased to share it with you. |
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