Adigrat

Adigrat(Tigrinya:ዓዲግራትpronunciation,ʿaddigrat, also called ʿAddi Grat) is a city and separateworedainTigray RegionofEthiopia. It is located in theMisraqawi Zoneat longitude and latitude14°16′N39°27′E﻿ / ﻿14.267°N 39.450°E﻿ /14.267; 39.450, with an elevation of 2,457 metres (8,061 ft) above sea level and below a high ridge to the west. Adigrat is a strategically important gateway to Eritrea and theRed Sea. Adigrat was part ofGanta Afeshumworeda before a separate woreda was created for the city. Currently, Adigrat serves as the capital of the Eastern Tigray zone.
Adigrat is one of the most important cities of Tigray, which evolved from earlier political centers and camps of regional governors. Antalo, Aläqot and Adigrat were a few of them. The decline of Antalo was followed by the rise of Adigrat as another prominent, yet short-lived, capital of Tigray.It used to serve as the capital ofAgame.
Tradition attributes the origin of the name Adigrat, which means "the country of farmland", to the then popular Tigrayan chiefAkhadom. Adigrat seems to have been under cultivation for a long time. It has a settlement history dating back at least to the 14th century.
Adigrat appears on indigenous maps of the northernHorn of Africain the 15th Century under the nameAgame.
Adigrat became the center of the Tigrayan chief,dejazmachKafle Wahid, the viceroy of atseFasilidesduring the first half of the 17th century.
Adigrat emerged as the political capital of Tigray whendejazmachSabagadis Wolduof Agame assumed the governorship of the region in the period 1822-30. Sabagadis set up some palaces, churches, and markets. This increasingly attracted both natives and foreigners to establish permanent residences and a few shops in the town. Adigrat was an important market center for salt, which was mined in the Afar districts of Areho and Berale in eastern Tigray. However, it declined after the death of its patron, Sabagadis, in 1830. It was repeatedly attacked, sacked, and plundered by the lowlanders and political rivals of Sabagadis.Samuel Gobathad joined countless Ethiopians in fleeing there for safety in the days immediately after Sabagadis' death.
When the missionaryJohann Ludwig Krapfpassed through Adigrat in April 1842, "almost the whole is in ruins", and observed that a nearby village, Kersaber, was "much larger than Adigrat."In the late 1860s the town had a rural appearance and much of it is still under cultivation today.
During theFirst Italian-Abyssinian War, the Italians occupied Adigrat on 25 March 1895 and used it as a base to support their advance south toMek'ele. GeneralAntonio Baldisserarefortified the settlement after the Italian defeat at theBattle of Adowa, but EmperorMenelik IIinsisted on its surrender at the beginning of the peace talks that concluded the war; Baldissera was ordered to evacuate Adigrat, which he did 18 May 1896.Augustus B. Wyldea few years later described Adigrat as having a Saturday market of medium size.
Lazarists introduced perhaps the first modern school of northern Ethiopia in Adigrat at the turn of the 20th century. However, like most Ethiopian towns, Adigrat increased its commercial and administrative importance during the period of the Italian occupation. The Italians introduced the first elements of modern infrastructure, including stronger fortresses, restaurants, residential houses, a health center, schools, roads, piped water, an electric generator, etc.
The Italians again occupied Adigrat at the beginning of theSecond Italian-Abyssinian War7 October 1935. The Italians were met there on the 11th by RasHaile Selassie Gugsa, who had been courted by the Italians to ignite a widespread defection of the Tigrayan aristocracy; instead, he had been soundly defeated a few days before byDejazmachHaile KebbedeofWag, and presented himself to the invaders with only 1200 followers. Anthony Mockler notes that despite the fact the young Ras shook Ethiopian morale, "this was the first and last open defection to the Italians of an important noble and his men."
In 1938, there were shops and hotel-restaurants (“Bologna”, “Piemontese”, “Centrale”). There was also a post, telephone and telegraph office, a health post and a Catholic Apostolic Prefecture.
Adigrat was captured by rebels in theWoyane rebellion25 September 1943, forcing the Ethiopian government administrators to flee to neighboring Eritrea. By 1958 the city was one of 27 places in Ethiopia ranked as a First Class Township.
During the 1970s, Agazi Comprehensive High School, and together with the town's Catholic junior high school, became centers of anti-government dissent.The presence outside of town of a large military base, served as a focus for protesting students, and also as a source for their hopes of a military coup.
Adigrat's dependence on merchandising and trade meant that the Derg's imposition of commercial and transport restrictions was strongly felt and resented.Under the Derg business licenses became progressively more difficult to get, and traders' trucks were requisitioned for the transport of war-related materials to army bases in Eritrea. Permits of travel were required; convoys were introduced by 1976; and the road links to Asmara were virtually broken, largely by the ELF, by the late 1970s.
During the first years of theEthiopian Civil War, the fledglingTigrayan People's Liberation Frontdrew support from these groups.Dergforces took Adigrat duringOperation Adwain the summer of 1988. The same day that theThird Revolutionary Armywas crushed atBattle of Shire, 19 February 1989, government troops and officials evacuated Adigrat.According toAfrica Watchthey caused widespread destruction in the town before they left.
In May 1988, Adigrat was bombed from the air by theEthiopian Air Force.
A pharmaceutical factory which became operational in 1997, was set up in the town.
During the 2020-2021Tigray War, attacks were carried out on Adigrat by the joint Ethiopian and Eritrean armies, including aerial bombardments.
On 19 December 2020, anEEPAreport stated that 16 civilians were killed while trying to stop Eritrean and ENDF soldiers from robbing the Addis Pharmaceutical Factory.On 19 December 2020, Catholic Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin of Adigrat has been reported safe in his residence. The Apostolic Nuntius to Ethiopia, ArchbishopAntoine Camilleri, expressed “solidarity with Bishop Medhin who was missing in the assembly because of the situation in his diocese where the war is hard hit.”
There are different sights near Adigrat that can be visited by tourists like:-
Debre Damois the name of a flat-topped mountain, or amba, and a 6th-century monastery in northern Ethiopia. The mountain is a steeply rising plateau of trapezoidal shape, about 1000 by 400 m in dimension. It is northwest of Adigrat, in the Mehakelegnaw Zone of the Tigray Region, close to the border with Eritrea.
Gunda Gundeis an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo monastery located to the south of Adigrat in the Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone of the northern Tigray Region in Ethiopia. It is known for its prolific scriptorium, as well as its library of Ge'ez manuscripts. This collection of over 220 volumes, all but one dating from before the 16th century, is one of the largest collections of its kind in Ethiopia.
Abuna Yemata Guhis amonolithic churchlocated in theHawzenworedaof theTigray Regionsouth west of Adigrat. It is situated at a height of 2,580 metres (8,460 ft) and has to be climbed on foot to reach. It is notable for its dome and wall paintings dating back to the 5th century and its architecture.
Adigrat, the capital of theAgamédistrict, has a rich aristocratic and political history. In town are the remnants of two castles from theZemene Mesafint("Era of the Princes"), one owned by Dej Desta, the other by the RasSebhat Aregawi. Other sites of interest:
As of 2013, 112 church institutions were registered in the woreda. Churches and monasteries in the woreda that contain historical manuscripts and artefacts include:
In 1938, the town counted 4296 inhabitants (including 137 Italians).
Based on the 2007 national census conducted by theCentral Statistical Agencyof Ethiopia (CSA), this town had a total population of 57,588, of whom 26,010 were male and 31,578 female. The majority of the inhabitants said they practicedEthiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 94.01% reporting that as their religion, while 3.02% of the population wereCatholics, and 2.68% wereMuslim.
The 1994 census reported it had a total population of 37,417 of whom 17,352 were men and 20,065 were women.
Surrounded by a range of mountains (the peak of which is Alaqwa), Adigrat held a strategic position at the junction of the crossroads betweenAdwain the west,AsmaraandMassawain the north andMekellein the south. Towards the east, it is delimited by the spectacular edge of the north-eastern Ethiopian escarpment dropping into the lowlands. Adigrat was interconnected with the prominent trade routes linking Tigray and the Red Sea, on the one hand, and such old market-towns as Adwa,Hawzen,Antaloand Mekelle, on the other.
The Huga river runs through Adigrat.The city is spread widely on both banks of the river. Adigrat is located at altitude ranges from 2000 to 3000 m above sea level. The city has several prominent hills; one of the most prominent isDebre Damowhich has a monastery at its peak.
Adigrat has acold semi-arid climate(Köppen climate classificationBSk). The overall climate throughout the year is mild and dry. The annual rainfall ranges between 400 and 600 mm, with most of the rain falling in the rainy season (June up to September).
Addis Pharmaceuticals Factory has been operational since 1997. The city has a branch offices ofCommercial Bank of Ethiopia,Dashen, Awash, Wegagen, and Ambessa.Adigrat's Chamber of Commerce actively organizes many of the business in the town.A modern water supply system was built at a cost of 126.4 million birr and was inaugurated on 27 June 2017.
Since 1961 it has been the center of the Adigrat Eparchy of the Vicariate Apostolic of Abyssinia.
In AdigratMeskelis special. It is celebrated withcarnivaland lighting of damera.
It has been known also theGunda-Gundi monastery, from the 14th century up to its present existence for its source of peculiar type of religious manuscripts, innovation of medicine and medications/treatment of different sicknesses or curing of different diseases, the starting of small technologies like the fabrication or producing of oils, and other cosmetics for human uses using technologies, and it is a testimonial for other religious and other modernization activities and practices.
Tihlois a dish unique to Adigrat and the widerEastern Tigray. It is prepared by kneading barley flour into softballs and preparing a meat stew with berbere, an Ethiopian spice, onions, tomato paste, water, and salt.The dish is eaten using a fork-shaped twig, which is unique in Ethiopian cuisine.
The beles, acactus pear, grown in Adigrat is considered to be of high-quality.
The city is renowned for its white honey andtej, an Ethiopian honey-wine.
Football, Basketball, and Cycling are sports that are popular by the local people.
Every Sunday morning there are local Cycling tournaments  in different categories. Addis Pharmaceuticals cycling club also participates in national tournaments.
The city is represented in the Ethiopian categories Premier league byWelwalo Adigrat University FC.
Adigrat is located alongEthiopian Highway 2, which connects the city withAddis AbebaandMekelle. In Adigrat,Ethiopian Highway 2, turns off the main highway to the west in the direction ofAdwa. To the north of Adigrat,Ethiopian Highway 20connects the city toKokobayand toAsmarainEritrea.
The education system in Adigrat engages thousands of students in public and private schools. The first high school in Adigrat is Agazi Comprehensive High School which was established in the 1950s.As of 2013 there were 13 public schools and 7 private schools.
Adigrat is home to theAdigrat Universitywhich serves over 14,000 students.The technical school in Adigrat include TVET and Polytechnic College. There are two private colleges, namely, Ethio-lmage and New Millennium College.
The city has a public library.
Media related toAdigratat Wikimedia Commons