Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Addis Ababa lies sprawled across the foothills of Mount Entoto, in the centre of Ethiopia. This is the political, economic, and educational hub of the country, itself largely undiscovered by mass tourism Holiday Crash pads spain . Ethiopia's distinguished cultural legacy has remained unaffected by outside influence it is one of only two African countries that were not colonized by Europeans.

Ethiopia's history goes back for over 2,000 years some of the earliest hominids (about 3 million years old) have been discovered here. Powerful kingdoms and different capitals came and went, until the country was finally reunited in 1855. In 1886 Taytu Betul, the wife of Emperor Menelik II, built a house near the Filwoha hot springs, which was transformed into the Imperial Palace and new capital. Meaning 'New Flower', Addis Ababa remains the seat of government, but the president lives in the National Palace, built for Emperor Haile Selassie in 1955.

Rising to a level of over 3,000 m (9, 900 ft), the city's oldest, upper section, is home to St George Cathedral (1896) and Addis Ababa University. Its narrow streets and market squares are 450 m (l,485ft) above the surrounding metropolis. Beneath it is the main commercial section, with treelined avenues, museums, restaurants and hotels as well as over 90 embassies and consulates. It is the headquarters of both the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union, and home to a large foreign population.

Here modern office buildings rub shoulders with colonial villas. One of the world's largest prefabricated buildings, now a convention centre, lies close to Holy Trinity Cathedral, the site of Sylvia Pankhurst's tomb.

Throughout the city, traditional wattle and daub huts can be found, goats and chickens patrol every small patch of land. Mules and donkeys mix with traffic, reminding the visitor that the city grew from a handful of villages settled by nobles who followed their emperor here less than 150 years ago.

Harar The extraordinary walled city of Harar is one of Ethiopia's treasures, a city of great historical and religious significance, and the capital of the Harari region. Situated on a hilltop at 1,885 m (6,220 ft), at the eastern end of the Ethiopian highlands, the city overlooks the Ogaden Plains to the south, and the Danakil Desert to the north, while the fertile Harer Mountains are on its western flank.

For centuries a major commercial centre thanks to its location, Harar, the world's fourth most holy Islamic city and already a centre of Muslim culture and learning, became the capital of the Adal Sultanate in 1520. From here a war was launched against the Ethiopian Christians that almost succeeded. Culturally, religiously and economically the town flourished, and by 1647 it was issuing its own currency. Briefly controlled by Egypt, Harar was incorporated into Ethiopia in 1887, and though it subsequently declined commercially, it remains as spiritually important as ever.

This is a city of shrines and mosques and minarets. In just 1 sq km (0.39 sq mi) the 90 mosques are thought to be the largest concentration of mosques in the world prior to 1887 entry to the city was forbidden to non-Muslims. The city walls are 5 m (16 It) high and built of locally quarried stone. Fascinating domestic architecture, unique in Ethiopia, stands along 368 narrow, cobbled alleys. Some have open plan ground floors dominated by a raised area upon which to socialize and chew the qat that grows in the nearby mountains.

Adares, as the inhabitants are known, have a language of their own, and the women still wear gorgeous, traditional clothing. The city is famous for its fine basketware, silver jewellery, textiles and bookbinding, and there are plenty of opportunities to acquire all of these. Harar has been extended beyond its encircling wall, but stroll through its lanes, or sip a cup of superb, locally grown coffee and you will feel as though you are in another world.

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