Palace of Haile Selassie

Northern Ethiopia

　　Two-and-a-half kilometres south of the Martyrs Memorial, northeast of town, is Bezawit Hill. Its summit holds a former palace of Haile Selassie, which isn’t open to visitors and can’t be photographed. Viewpoints both in front and behind offer panoramic views over the lake, river and town. They’re great at sunset....

Blue Nile Bridge

Northern Ethiopia

　　You can only reach the famous outlet of the Blue Nile by boat, but you can get pretty close along the Gonder road, 2km out of town, where a bridge spans the river. You can see the dam that has ruined Blue Nile Falls and keep an eye out for...

Main Market

Northern Ethiopia

　　If you can tear yourself away from the lake, visit the large and lively main market. It’s busiest on Saturday – market day – when people stream into town from nearby villages. The delightful agelgil (goat-skin lunch boxes) are no longer sold in the market – try the craft kiosks...

Greek Orthodox Church

Eastern Ethiopia

　　This modern, well-proportioned church is most notable for its two spires and yellow facade. ...

Juma'a Mosque

Eastern Ethiopia

　　Juma'a Mosque is the city's largest mosque and a prominent landmark in the Megala neighbourhood. ...

Old Palace

Eastern Ethiopia

　　This large building is the former imperial residence of Haile Selassie. It's not open to the public and difficult to see from outside. ...

Chattara Market

Eastern Ethiopia

　　Chat is sold all over town, but the trade at the Chattara Market is so frenetic it deserves a look. ...

Dire Dawa Market

Eastern Ethiopia

　　Also known as ‘Taiwan’, this is a modern, orderly covered market mostly full of clothing and fabric, though some of the cheap electronic goods that used to dominate this space remain. ...

Ashawa Market & Livestock Market

Eastern Ethiopia

　　With its numerous sheet-metal shacks in the back, the chaotic Ashawa Market is well worth a gander. In the wadi behind Ashawa you'll find the livestock market, which is usually held in the morning. ...

Ethiopia-Djibouti Rail Yard

Eastern Ethiopia

　　Rail fans can clamber through what remains of the once-great Imperial Railway Company of Ethiopia. Ask for Kadra Ali – she can get by in English and will happily take you around the rail yard (tip expected). You'll see plenty of rusty carcasses of disused engines, the still-operational roundhouse and...

Kafira Market

Eastern Ethiopia

　　With its Babel-like ambience, the enormous Kafira Market, sprawling way beyond its Moorish-style arches, is the most striking of Dire Dawa's markets. Delving into the organised chaos of its narrow lanes is an assault on the senses. This market attracts people from miles around, including Afar and Somali herders, Oromo...

Debre Damo

Harar

　　Debre Damo is one of Ethiopia's most important monasteries and is thought to date back to Aksumite times and the 6th-century reign of King Gebre Meskel. The monastery’s formidable cliffs make for one of Ethiopia's most memorable experiences (for men, at least – women aren't allowed up). To reach the...

Simien Mountains National Park

Harar

　　No matter how you look at it, the Unesco World Heritage–listed Simien Mountains National Park is one of Africa’s most beautiful ranges. This massive plateau, riven with gullies and pinnacles, offers tough but immensely rewarding trekking along the ridge that falls sheer to the plains far below. It’s not just...

Abuna Yemata Guh

Harar

　　There's nowhere on earth quite like Abuna Yemata Guh. Although less impressive architecturally than most, the church is spectacularly sited within a cliff face, halfway up a sheer rock pinnacle 4km west of Megab. The first 45 minutes of the climb is mildly challenging, with a couple of tricky sheer...

Wolleka (Falasha Village)

Gonder

　　Around 3km north of Gonder, several craft stalls with ‘Stars of David’ and ‘Falasha Village’ signs signal what’s really the former Falasha village of Wolleka. Once home to a thriving population of Falashas (Ethiopian Jews), most were airlifted to Israel in the 1980s and today none remain. There are a...

Saturday Market

Gonder

　　Originally the city’s weekly market, Kidame Gebya is now packed throughout the week, although Saturday remains the biggest day and Sunday is rather quiet. Traditional clothes vendors are right at the top, while the vegetable sellers use ancient-looking dirt perches in the back. It’s 500m southwest of the bus station....

Ras Gimb

Gonder

　　Though its early history is murky (it was likely built in the 17th century, though some say the 18th), this attractive palace once served as a retreat for Haile Selassie, a residence for Italian generals and a torture chamber for the Derg. It’s now under renovation (don't hold your breath)...

Empress Mentewab’s Kuskuam Complex

Gonder

　　It mightn't be as well-preserved as the Royal Enclosure, or as sacred as Debre Berhan Selassie, but what this royal compound, known as Kuskuam, lacks in order and holiness it more than makes up for in melancholy. The complex was built in 1730 for the redoubtable Empress Mentewab, after the...

Fasiladas' Bath

Gonder

　　Around 2km northwest of the piazza lies Fasiladas’ Bath, which has been attributed to both Fasiladas and Iyasu I. The large rectangular pool is overlooked by a charming building, thought by some to be a vacation home. It’s a beautiful and peaceful spot, where snakelike tree roots digest sections of...

Royal Enclosure

Gonder

　　The Gonder of yesteryear was a city of extreme brutality and immense wealth. Today the wealth and brutality are gone, but the memories linger in this amazing World Heritage site. The entire 70,000-sq-metre compound containing numerous castles and palaces has been restored with the aid of Unesco. Knowledgable, well-trained guides...

Debre Berhan Selassie

Gonder

　　Welcome to one of Ethiopia's most beautiful churches. Appealing as it is on the outside with its stone walls, arched doors and two-tiered thatch roof, it's the inner sanctuary of Debre Berhan Selassie, with its glorious frescos, that really shines. But it was very nearly destroyed like most of Gonder’s...

King Bazen's Tomb

Aksum

　　Despite being the crudest of tombs, roughly hewn into solid rock instead of constructed with fine masonry, this place has a slightly magical feel. According to local beliefs, King Bazen is thought not just to have reigned at Christ’s birth, but to have been Balthazar, and it was he who...

Old Church of St Mary of Zion

Aksum

　　The rectangular, men-only old church at the southern end of the complex of churches here is a remarkable example of traditional architecture built by the Emperor Fasiladas, the founder of Gonder, in 1665. Inside there are fine original murals, including a painting of the Nine Saints. Some say the foundation...

Gobodura Hill

Aksum

　　A site known as Wuchate Golo is one of Aksum's four ancient quarries, the birthplace of the famous stelae. Several stelae (all unmarked) were almost completely freed from the rock, but then abandoned. Just as interesting is the Lioness of Gobodura (የጎቦዱራዋ እንስት አንበሳ). It was here that the Archangel...

Arabtu Ensessa Church

Aksum

　　The ‘Four Beasts’ Church, named after the writers of the Biblical Gospels, was rebuilt in the 1950s and is worth a look for the wonderful murals (most modern, but a few old) covering nearly every centimetre of the interior. The saints and angels on the ceiling are particularly delightful, while...

St Mary of Zion Churches Complex

Aksum

　　Though religions have come and gone, Aksum has always remained a holy city – welcome to the centre of the universe for Christian Ethiopians. A church of some form has stood here since the earliest days of Ethiopian Christianity and it was God himself who, descending from heaven, indicated that...

Ark of the Covenant Chapel

Aksum

　　In between the old and new St Mary of Zion churches is the real reason for most people’s devotion: a tiny, carefully guarded chapel that houses what most Ethiopians believe is the legendary Ark of the Covenant. Don’t think you can take a peek: just one specially chosen guardian has...

Abba Pentalewon

Aksum

　　High above Aksum, on top of a tall, narrow peak, is Abba Pentalewon monastery. Tradition states it was built by Abba Pentalewon, one of the Nine Saints and a man who is said to have prayed nonstop for 40 years, and that this is where King Kaleb retired to after...

Northern Stelae Field

Aksum

　　Despite the dizzying grandeur of the numerous rock needles reaching for the stars, it’s what’s under your feet here that’s most important. Amazingly, about 90% of the field hasn’t yet been dug, so no matter where you walk, there’s a good chance there’s an undiscovered tomb with untold treasures beneath....

Bet Merkorios

Lalibela

　　Reached via a series of trenches and tunnels (one is long, narrow and pitch-black) that starts from Bet Gabriel-Rufael, this church may have started as something altogether different. The discovery of ankle shackles among other objects has led scholars to believe it may have served as the town’s prison, or...

Mekina Medane Alem

Lalibela

　　Two to three hours’ walk from Geneta Maryam and six hours’ walk from Lalibela, this remote church was, according to Ethiopian tradition, constructed by three virgins during the reign of King Gebre Meskel in AD 537. It's constructed under an overhanging rock in a natural cave. It resembles Yemrehanna Kristos...

Ashetan Maryam

Lalibela

　　Set at 3150m, atop Abune Yosef mountain, is this monastery where the local priests believe they’re ‘closer to heaven and God’, and it’s easy to see why. Although the architecture here compares pretty poorly with Lalibela, it’s the extraordinary mountain scenery for which you really come. The five-hour climb (one...

Yemrehanna Kristos

Lalibela

　　Despite Yemrehanna Kristos being one of Ethiopia’s best-preserved late-Aksumite buildings, few people reward themselves with a visit. And a reward it is. The church is different because it’s built rather than excavated. Seeing the stepped exterior facade, created from alternating wood and stone layers, you’ll understand why so many of...

Bet Amanuel

Lalibela

　　Free-standing and monolithic, Bet Amanuel is Lalibela’s most finely carved church. Some have suggested it was the royal family’s private chapel. It perfectly replicates the style of Aksumite buildings, with its projecting and recessed walls mimicking alternating layers of wood and stone seen at places such as Yemrehanna Kristos and...

Bet Medhane Alem

Lalibela

　　Resembling a massive Greek temple more than a traditional Ethiopian church, Bet Medhane Alem is impressive for its size and majesty. Said to be the largest rock-hewn church in the world, it measures 33.5m by 23.5m and is more than 11.5m high. Some scholars have suggested it may have been...

Bet Maryam

Lalibela

　　Connected to Bet Medhane Alem by a tunnel is a large courtyard containing three churches. The first, Bet Maryam, is small, yet designed and decorated to an exceptionally high standard. It’s also the only church with porches extending off it. Dedicated to the Virgin (who’s particularly venerated in Ethiopia), this...

Bet Giyorgis

Lalibela

　　When you think of Lalibela, you're thinking of Bet Giyorgis. Resting off on its own, St George’s Church is Lalibela’s masterpiece. Representing the apogee of the rock-hewn tradition, it's the most visually perfect church of all, a 15m-high three-tiered plinth in the shape of a Greek cross – a perfectly...

Lion of Judah Monument

Addis Ababa

　　Long the symbol of Ethiopia’s monarchy, the Lion of Judah is ubiquitous throughout the country – and although images of the almighty animal abound in Addis Ababa, it’s the storied history of the Lion of Judah Monument that makes this statue significant. 　　After being erected on the eve of Haile...

Merkato

Addis Ababa

　　Wading into the market chaos known as Merkato, just west of Addis' centre, can be as rewarding as it is exasperating. You may find the most eloquent aroma wafting from precious incense. You may also find that your wallet has been stolen and that you’ve got stinky excrement on your...

Washa Mikael Church

Addis Ababa

　　The Washa Mikael Church is a few kilometres east of Addis Ababa's town centre. Though local priests date it back to the 3rd century AD, it most probably dates back to the 12th century. If you’re mad and not planning to visit the churches at Lalibela or Tigray in the...

Holy Trinity Cathedral

Addis Ababa

　　This massive and ornate cathedral is the second-most important place of worship in Ethiopia (ranking behind the Old Church of St Mary of Zion in Aksum). It’s also the celebrated final resting place of Emperor Haile Selassie and his wife Empress Menen Asfaw. Their massive Aksumite-style granite tombs sit inside...

St George Cathedral & Museum

Addis Ababa

　　Commissioned by Emperor Menelik II to commemorate his stunning 1896 defeat of the Italians in Adwa, and dedicated to St George (Ethiopia’s patron saint), whose icon was carried into the battle, this Piazza cathedral is one of Addis' most beautiful churches. The grey stone exterior is easily outdone by the...

'Red Terror' Martyrs Memorial Museum

Addis Ababa

　　‘As if I bore them all in one night, they slew them in a single night.’ These were the words spoken by the mother of four teenage children all killed on the same day by the Derg, as she officially opened the small but powerful ‘Red Terror’ Martyrs Memorial Museum...

National Museum

Addis Ababa

　　The collection on show at the National Museum is ranked among the most important in sub-Saharan Africa, but sadly many of its exhibits are poorly labelled, lit and displayed. Far and away the highlight is the palaeontological exhibition in the basement, the home of world-famous Lucy. Her 1974 discovery in...

Ethnological Museum

Addis Ababa

　　Set within Haile Selassie’s former palace, and surrounded by the beautiful gardens and fountains of the university’s main campus, is the enthralling Ethnological Museum. Even if you’re not a museum fan, this one is worth a bit of your time – it’s easily one of the finest museums in Africa,...