Axum (Aksum)
Axum or Aksum, is Ethiopia's holiest city and dates back to the first century, when it was the capital of the Aksumite Empire. In Axum, in the 4th century, Christianity was declared the country's national religion.
The Orthodox Church believes that the original Ark of the Covenant, holding the ten commandments, was once located in the grounds of the St. Mary of Zion cathedral in Axum. The church was built in 1665, on the site of the previous Aksumite church, which was destroyed a century earlier, when Muslims invaded Ethiopia. The church has a small museum where a large amount of bibles, crosses and other holy relics are displayed.
Haile Selassie built another cathedral next to it in 1955. In between the two churches is the Chapel of the Tablet, which is believed to house the Ark of the Covenant. Nobody is allowed to enter the chapel, apart from the guardian monk who resides there. Even the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church and tthe Emperor of Ethiopia were not allowed to visit it.
The two cathedrals and the chapel of the Ark are the focus of pilgrimage and memebrs of its Orthodox Chuech consider them to be the holiest sites in Ethiopia.
Not far from the churches you will find Axum's ancient stele field, where all that remains of the city's glory can be found in the form of steles (monoliths). Most steles can be seen in the Northern Stelae Park. The steles are granite pillars with carvings. The pillars are made out of a single block of granite and the largest one found at Axum is some 30 meters long, making it the longest monolith in the world. Most of the steles date from around 300 AD.
The Gudit Stelae to the west of town are interspersed with tombs, most of which date from the 4th century.
The Obelisk of Axum was taken to Italy by the Italian army in 1937. It was returned to Ethiopia in 2005 and re-erected in 2008.
Not far outside Axum are the ruins of King Kaleb's Palace. Further up the hill is the Pentaleon Monastery, but only men are allowed inside. The views over the area are beautiful though.
Also not far outside Axum are the ruins of the Palace of Sheba. The palace is believed to have been founded in the 8th century and according to legend the queen of Sheba used to live there.
There are several interesting museums in Axum, including the archaeological and ethnographic museums. The Ezana Stone also resides in Axum. It is written in Sabaean, Ge'ez and Ancient Greek in a similar fashion to the famous Rosetta Stone. The tomb of King Bazen consists of a megalith that is thought to be one of the earliest structures in the area. The Ta'akha Maryam dates from the 4th-century and there are several 6th-century Dungur palaces in town. The Pentalewon Monastery and Abba Liqanos are also worth a visit.
About 2 km (1.2 mi) west of Axum is the rock art called the Lioness of Gobedra. There is also a reservoir known as the queen of Sheba's Bath.
Axum is in Tigray, about 500 km (310 mi) north of Addis Abeba and has air and road connections with the capital. Buses also run from Gondar, Adwa, Adigrat and Mekele.
In 1980, Axum's archaeological sites were added to the UNESCO list of world heritage sites.
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