Today, we spend the whole day in Harar, a fortified historic city in eastern Ethiopia, in the Ch’erch’er Mountains, at an elevation of 1,800 metres. It is known as the “fourth holy city” of Islam and has been considered a major commercial centre in the Horn of Africa for centuries.
Harar was probably founded in the 7th century CE by immigrants from Ḥaḍramawt in southern Arabia. It became the capital of the Muslim state of Adal. Conflict with Christian Ethiopians and the Oromo, however, forced the removal of the capital in 1577 to the Aussa desert, 160 km north. Sir Richard Burton, the first European visitor, described the city of Harar in First Footsteps in East Africa (1856), and the French poet Arthur Rimbaud lived there (1880–91) as a trader in arms and ammunition. Occupied by the Egyptians (1875–85), Harar was conquered in 1887 by Menilek II, king of Shewa and afterwards emperor of Ethiopia. Ras Makonnen was then appointed governor of Hārer province, and in 1910, his son, the future emperor Haile Selassie I, assumed the governorship. Ras Makonnen’s Harar Palace was mostly destroyed in World War II; his mausoleum is south of the city at the foot of Mount Ghirella.
Modern Hārer surrounds the old capital, which is Ethiopia’s only walled city. The ancient walls, with six gates, enclose a crowded Muslim town with alleyways that wind to a central marketplace. Outside the walls, the city spreads across the plateau and is characterised by northern Ethiopian and European architecture. Because of ritual differences in slaughtering, separate Muslim and Christian marketplaces are maintained.
We took a local guide (4,000 ETB) to explore the city behind its historic walls, which protect the sacred city. The city’s unique character is shaped by a blend of African and Islamic traditions, reflected in its urban planning and architecture. It is known for its 82 mosques, 102 shrines, and traditional and Indian-style townhouses with distinctive interior designs, some of which serve as museums (usual entrance 100 to 200 ETB).
