Advanced search

Select by category Cultural Natural Mixed all

Select by State Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran (Islamic Republic of) Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia (Federated States of) Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) Viet Nam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe

Select by Theme Additional Cultural Categories Additional Natural Categories Archaeology Cities Climate Change Conservation of Cultural Sites Conservation of Natural Sites Convention Cross-Cutting Cultural Cultural landscapes Cultural Routes Earthen Architecture Education & Training Emergency action Forests Industrial Marine & coastal Modern Heritage Museum Natural Restoration Rock art Science & technology Site Management Small Island Developing States Sustainable Tourism

Choose a Region Africa Arab States Asia and the Pacific Europe and North America Latin America and the Caribbean

Display all by Country Region Year

Start Date/End Date

dd/mm/yyyy

dd/mm/yyyy

Exports

Mail Print

Results in other formats

Word File

Harar Walled Town

Ethiopia (Africa)

Date of Submission: 25/04/2001
Criteria: (ii)(iii)(iv)(v)
Category: Cultural
Submission prepared by:
Min. of Information & Culture - Authority for Research & Conservation of Cultural Heritage
Coordinates:
Lat. N 9°13' ; Long. E 42°24'
Ref.: 1535

Description

Situated at 500 km east of the Ethiopian capital Harar is the only ancient inhabited town of Ethiopia unlike Aksum, Lalibela and Gondar that only boast archaeological vestiges. As a matter of fact, Harar has been defined as the only urban example of Islamic architecture in the com of Africa. Founded in 896 A.D. by the first Muslim sultanats, in the 16th century it was surrounded by imposing walls and became the capital of a powerful Islamic state exerting its spirituel, economic and cultural influence at a worldwide level in the following three centuries.

Situated between the Gulf of Aden, the Indian Ocean and the plateaux of Christian Ethiopia, the caravan centre of Harar has an original culture that is the synthesis of an Islamic urbanisation and indigenous local traditions. As a city-state it has developed a specific language, the Harari, one of the seven Semitic languages of Ethiopia, which is still spoken by the inhabitants and transcribed in Arabic characters on ancient and valuable manuscripts that a large number of families hold.

In the 16th century 3,348-m-long (10981 feet) imposing walls surrounding a 48-hectare (1 19 acres) urban surface were built with 5 gates. They still show the distinctive features of urbanisation in Ethiopia. As a matter of fact, the ancient town of Harar is called Jugol meaning the walled town. Inside the walls the houses are arranged as neighbourhood units surrounded by courtyards according to the African tradition facing a network of characteristic narrow streets typical of the Islamic town planning. The buildings still show their original features and are built on the basis of a typological pattern, which is applied to all the most ancient houses. The traditional houses made out of tufa stone and clay mortar are an outstanding example of essentiality, aesthetic and functional quality as the elaborated interior design shows. The modularity and the complexité of the architecture spring from a spirituel and symbolic idea pervading every building detail from the arrangement of the houses and niches in the walls up to the colours that are used and repeated in an unbreakable and unchanged order. About 800 mosques and tombs of worshipped men are spread throughout the houses making Harar the fourth holy city of Islam. Moreover, it is possible to admire more imposing palaces built by rich merchants and noble Ethiopians giving a more prestigious and auldic print as the Indian influences and the sober architectonic pattern of the town

show. Harar is closely linked to the surrounding countryside arranged according to hydraulic systems and terraced gardens that allow cultivating the mountainous slopes up to an altitude of 3,000 metres. Despite its arid climate, in summer during the rainy season 700 mms of rainfalls can be registered in only one month. Consequently, the torrents rise, the water is canalised by diverters and ditches towards the town to feed the underground water table and is drawn off by wells situated in the courtyards of the houses. The fields are irrigated by basins called kurii excavated in the beds of the torrents, each of them feeding about twenty farms. The use of water is controlled by the malaak, which are the authorities chosen by the farmers themselves and organized in corporations of mutual solidarité called arsch, toya and afocha. The afocha association helps its members build houses, organize wedding parties and fùnerals. It is also in charge with the cleaning of streets and with sewage and waste disposal systems. The strict social rules still in force influence the territorial and urban pattern, thus making the cultural landscape the result of the adherence to spirituel principles and shared values.