Addis Ababa City Tours

The National Museum of Ethiopia houses the nation’s artistic treasures as well as precious archaeological finds such as the fossilized remains of early hominids, the most famous of which is “Lucy,”. Recently added is a display on Selam, estimated to be 3.3 million years old, considered to be the earliest child.

The museum exhibitions include archaeological, paleoanthropological, objects from ancient and medieval periods, regalia and memorabilia from former rulers, artwork, a collection of secular arts and crafts. The museum tries to give an overview of the cultural richness and variety of the peoples of Ethiopia.Lucy was discovered in 1974 near the village Hadar in the Awash Valley of the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia. The Lucy specimen is an early australopithecine and is dated to about 3.2 million years ago. The skeleton presents a small skull akin to that of non-hominin apes, plus evidence of a walking-gait that was bipedal and upright.

The Ethnological Museum, Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, is a public institution dedicated to ethnology and culture. The Ethnological Museum houses anthropological, musicological and cultural objects. The Ethnological Museum is the first university museum in Ethiopia.[1] The Museum is located in the main Campus of Addis Ababa University which houses the Institute of Ethiopian Studies.

Shiro Meda local market located near the US Embassy in Addis Ababa is one of the best local markets to shop handwoven cotton clothes mainly for women. It is also famous for buying small gift items like Tshirts, necklaces, earrings, etc At Shiro Meda, visitors can buy colorful handwoven locally made scarves, and dresses for women which are made from cotton and decorated with colorful embroidery. Here at Shiro Meda, bargaining for price is the order of the game.

Prior to the current Mercato, there was an open marketplace in Addis Ababa near St. George Church at the site where the City Hall stands now, but it ended with the Italian occupation of the 1930s. The occupiers moved the market further west to the area around the premises of Fitawrari Habte Giyorgis Dinagde, which they named Merkato Dinagde. Thus, the present Addis Merkato was founded by the segregationist policies of the Italian occupational government.

the Italians restricted the historic St. George Merkato to Europeans, renaming it Piazza, which featured European-style shops that displayed commodities through glass windows. The mostly Arab tradesmen who owned stores there eventually relocated a half-mile to the west. Over time, local shopkeepers displaced the Arab merchants and, since the 1960s, the Addis Merkato has had a mostly local flavor. The Mercato Dijino did not have any plan and gradually grew in width and breadth taking different categorical stocks called "terras".

St George's Cathedral is an Orthodox cathedral noted for its distinctive octagonal form and is located at the northern end of Churchill Road. Designed by Sebastiano Castagna and built by Italian prisoners of war defeated at Adwa in 1896, it was named after St. George, after the ark of the church was carried to the Battle of Adwa against the Italians, during which the Ethiopians secured victory. The Italian Fascist authorities set the building on fire during the war in 1937, yet the cathedral was later restored by the Emperor following the liberation in 1941.

The Cathedral has a museum where it displays an Imperial throne and weaponry used in the wars against the Italians including curved swords and tridents and giant helmets made from the manes of lions.

Meskel Square (Amharic: መስቀል አደባባይ, romanized: mesik’el ādebabay, lit. 'Cross Square') is a public square in the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is often a site for public gatherings or for demonstrations and festivals, notably, the Meskel Festival from which it takes its name.

History

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Emperor Haile Selassie I seen celebrating the finding of the cross at Meskel Square in 1971.

Previously it was known as Stephen Square[1] before its name was changed to Meskel Squre in the early 1950s. Traditionally, the Meskel bonfire in Addis Ababa was lit by the Emperor of Ethiopia accompanied by members of the Imperial Family, the nobility, and high officials of the Orthodox Church and the government. The bonfire was initially lit in a square near the southern gate of St George's Cathedral during the reigns of Emperor Menelik II and Empress Zewditu, but was moved to its present location in the specifically constructed Meskel Square by Emperor Haile Selassie

The "Red Terror" Martyrs' Memorial Museum in Addis Ababa was established in 2010 as a memorial to those who died during the Red Terror under the Derg government.[1][2] The museum has displays of torture instruments, skulls and bones, coffins, bloody clothes and photographs of victims. In free tours of the museum, guides describes the history leading up to the Red Terror (starting from Haile Selassie's 80th birthday celebration), the actions taken toward citizens who opposed the Derg, how the prisoners were treated and how they secretly communicated among each other

It is a historical place where Emperor Menelik II resided and built his palace, when he came from Ankober and founded Addis Ababa. It is considered a sacred mountain and has many monasteries. Mount Entoto is also the location of a number of celebrated churches, including Saint Raguel and Saint Mary.[1]

The mountain is densely covered by eucalyptus trees that were imported from Australia during the reign of Menelik II, and mostly planted during Emperor Haile Selassie's reign. Thus, it is sometimes referred to as the "lung of Addis Ababa". The forest on the mountain is an important source of firewood for the city. It was also a source of building material in earlier times.

The Ethiopian Heritage Trust, a non-profit, non-governmental organization, is working actively to change part of the mountain to its old state, a natural park. Entoto Natural Park is the northeastern rim of Addis Abeba, on the southeastern slopes of Mt. Entoto, covering an area of 1,300 hectare