Mekele » Venture Ethiopia - Tours and Travel

Mekele

The northern city of Mekele is the regional capital of Tigray, the 6th largest City in Ethiopia, and a lively and rapidly-developing place. Its wide streets and high-rise buildings give it a modern feel, yet in amongst these nestle traditional rustic stone-built homes.

Mekele owes its prominence to Emperor Yohannis IV, who reigned from 1871-89.  He believed he had been conceived in the area, and consequently founded a number of churches in the city.  In 1881, he moved his capital from Debre Birhan to Mekele and the palace he had built in 1882-84 served as the main imperial residence from then until his death in battle with the Mahdists of Sudan.  Designed by a European Architect, the palace is well preserved and is now a museum holding a collection of military hardware, royal robes, household effects and photographs.  You can also see the royal bedrooms and get a good view of the city from the rooftop.  Ironically, Emperor Yohannis IV may never have seen this view himself, as he had a phobia of climbing stairs!  The grounds are well kept and quiet, with trees, lawns and flowers (and some 1930s Italian machine guns!)

Mekele is also famous for its market, which lies at the end of the traditional salt caravan route from the Danakil Desert.  Slabs of salt are carried by long chains of camels on a journey that takes more than a week.  During this journey, the people accompanying the caravan subsist on "bircutta", a special kind of dried bread.

Mekele has a large and impressive monument to the 1998-2000 Ethiopian-Eritraen War, illuminated at night and visible throughout much of the city.  One of the tanks left over from the conflict also lies just beside the monument.  Another reminder of the war is the Ayder School, which was bombed on 5th June 1998 in an unprovoked aerial attack by Eritrea, leading to a major escalation of the war.  The school is still in use, but the damage has been left as it is.  You can see the holes in the walls of the classrooms where the shrapnel from the cluster bombs dug through the cement.  One of the long classrooms has a huge hole in the roof, and others have chunks gouged out next to their windows.  The long classroom is now preserved as a museum, with the students' desks still in place, many of them with holes from shrapnel.  Along the walls are tables displaying other debris from the attack, along with graphic photos of the victims.  In total, eleven students, along with a teacher and a woman with a baby on her back were killed in the attack, and several rescuers were injured when the plane circled and dropped a second bomb.  A row of trees planted in the school grounds serves as a memorial to those killed.

Map of Mekele