Treasures from the origins
The cradle of mankind, Ethiopia abounds in treasures with many secrets, such as the fascinating temple of Yeha, which bears the influence of the Arabian Peninsula and its legendary kingdom of Saba. Techniques such as terraced farming, complex irrigation systems and, above all, powerful stone architecture were imported here. The site is home to one of the world's best-preserved examples of a Sabaean palace. A rectangular, multi-storey structure resting on a stepped base, carefully crafted limestone ashlars for smooth walls and rounded corners, and vanishing lines that create beautiful perspective effects... these are the characteristics of this legendary early architecture. But Ethiopia is most famous for housing the richest collection of remains from the mythical kingdom of Aksum. In terms of architecture, the Aksumites adopted a number of Sabaean features, while adding some astonishing innovations. Placed on stepped bases to counterbalance the irregularities of the topography, the great palaces, temples and villas were built using a masonry technique consisting of alternating layers of stone rubble, pebbles and wood, themselves reinforced by horizontally placed wooden beams to support the walls and openings. These beams protrude slightly from the walls, and because of the resemblance of these protruding elements to heads, this technique was called "monkey head". Whether limestone or granite, the stone is carefully cut, especially at the corners of the buildings, to ensure perfect stability, and wood is both a structural and aesthetic element. Flat roofs, coffered ceilings, flat façades punctuated by a play of steps and protrusions and projecting cubic and rectangular volumes, sculpted columns, pillars and capitals, friezes adorning structural elements and featuring a variety of motifs are among the key features of this Axumite style. Large temples with vast spaces linked by courtyards and passageways, such as the Taakha Maryam palace, superb tombs, most of which are hypogeums, i.e. underground tombs, often featuring vaulted burial chambers linked by paved corridors and closed by imposing stone slabs, such as Nefas Mautcha, and, above all, monumental multi-storey stelae, often richly decorated, the finest examples of which reproduce real residential towers with monkey-head masonry and false doors and windows, such as Stele 1, which reaches 30 m in height and 500 t.. everything about the thousand-year-old site of ancient Aksum is power and grandeur! The Aksumite period also corresponds to the earliest phase of Ethiopian Christianity. Initially, the first services were held in ancient pagan temples, before gradually building full-fledged churches, most often basilical in plan with a main nave divided into three bays and a choir flanked by one or more apses. The Dabra Damo monastery is one of the country's great ancient Christian monuments.
Medieval splendors
The first medieval churches took up many Axumite elements (friezes, alternating stone and wood, monkey-head masonry, sculpted decoration, etc.) and added other elements, notably triumphal arches, domes, niches, columns and monolithic pillars, all adorned with superb cross and interlacing motifs. Initially basilical in plan, Ethiopian churches gradually opted for cross-shaped plans. Among the most fascinating are Enda Abouna Aregawi and Bethlehem de Gayent. At the same time, the country developed a unique form of Christian art: rock churches. Basilical or cruciform in plan, they adopt the patterns, subtle stone-cutting and decorative elements of Axumite-style masonry churches. They also feature superb woodwork, notably in the sublime inlaid panels, beautiful polychrome stonework to complement the fine painted decorations, and astonishing windows cut directly into the rock or protected by wooden screens in a variety of shapes, notably crosses. TheYemrehanna Krestos church, theMikael Amba church, the churches in the village of Dégoum Sélassié and those in northern Tigray are among the finest examples of this rock architecture. But nothing can match the splendor of the finest site of medieval Ethiopian Christianity: the sanctuary city of Lalibela. It bears all the power of the Zagoué dynasty, which in the 12th and 13th centuries launched a vast building program to mark the rebirth of Christianity in the country and to assert itself against the threats of Islam. Built entirely of red volcanic tuff, Lalibela was designed for pilgrims unable to reach Jerusalem, and follows the layout of the great sites of the Holy Land. Some churches have clear geometric plans, others are made up of a series of passages, corridors and galleries, some mix rock structures and open-air elements, others are simple caverns adorned with crudely carved decorative elements... but all are laid out along a liturgical path running from west to east, from sunset and sin to the light of the Saviour. The churches are complemented by other key elements such as the water harvesting system and ritual basins, the betlehem or bread houses for offerings, the courtyards surrounding these monolithic edifices, and the moats and enclosures separating the sanctuary-city from the rest of the world. The whole liturgical journey is designed to mark the complex path to the sacred, the holy of holies that only a chosen few can reach. This is reflected in the organization of churches around the maqdas, a sanctuary reserved for celebrants and hidden from view by wooden panels or hangings, which houses the tabot, a reproduction of the Ark of the Covenant. Churches can be rectangular in plan, often preceded by a narthex or vestibule, or have a central Greek cross floor plan, often with a dome over the transept. Beta Ghiorgis, Beta Mariam and Beta Medhane Alem are among the most beautiful churches on the site. Alongside these stone treasures, the country has also seen the development, particularly in the north, of astonishing forest churches, round structures 20 to 30 m in diameter, adorned with beautiful mural frescoes and topped with tin or reed roofs. Trees, considered sacred and representing the Garden of Eden, form an integral part of the architecture and are used as decorative elements. Astonishing!
At the crossroads of influences
The omnipotence of Christianity has not prevented the development of Islam, which has been present in Ethiopia since the 7th century. The village of Negash is home to the El-Nejashi mosque, said to be the very first mosque on the continent. Unfortunately, its dome, minaret and beautiful façade were badly damaged by rebels in 2021... But the most famous representative of this Islamic architecture is the town of Harar-Jugol, which boasts eighty-two mosques (three of which date back to the 10th century) and hundreds of tombs. Situated on a rocky escarpment, the city grew particularly rapidly between the 13th and 16th centuries, when it was equipped with powerful fortifications. Sheltered by these ramparts, a typically Islamic urban layout developed, with a maze of cobbled streets leading to the central core of religious and commercial buildings. The Harari house is characterized by a low silhouette, with very few openings to the outside, usually protected by moucharabiehs, and flat roofs protected by painted and decorated battlements, while the interior is richly decorated in wood. Balconies and wooden verandas reflect a blend of Islamic and Indian influences.
The shores of Lake Tana are home to some astonishing buildings bearing the mark of the Spanish and Portuguese Jesuit missionaries present in Ethiopia since the 16th century. They came in particular from Goa, then a Portuguese colony. Many of the colony's craftsmen and masons worked in Ethiopia, giving the architecture of the period a unique touch. Next to the ruins of King Susenyos' palace in Gorgora stands the Indo-Portuguese Baroque Maryam Ghemb Cathedral, with its richly decorated façade featuring rosettes, friezes and pilasters, and superb vaulted interiors with coffered or trellised ceilings. The Dankaz Palace, meanwhile, illustrates the techniques of stone masonry bonded with lime mortar introduced by the Portuguese. Faced with the threats of Islam, Christianity reasserted its power, notably under the impetus of the great builder emperor Fasilides, who founded his new capital in Gondar, which was to become the epicenter of a great cultural revival carried on by the entire Solomonic dynasty. Among the masterpieces of Fasil-Ghebbi, the name of the historic heart of the fortified city of Gondar, are the Fasilidas palace, with its powerful circular towers, domes, numerous staircases and superb chromatic play of stone, the Fasilidas baths, a kind of small summer residence featuring an astonishing pool fed by underground masonry pipes for the conveyance and evacuation of water, the library and chancellery of Yohannes, astonishing multi-storey structures with staircases, porches and towers, or the palace of Bakaffa, with its round tower topped by a dome and its trapezoidal courtyard to create a play of perspective and give an impression of depth. Empress Mentouab, Bakaffa's wife, was the driving force behind major religious architectural projects, such as the Qousqwam complex of monastery, church and castle, protected by walls lined with crenellated, domed, square and circular towers. Generally speaking, under the Solomonic dynasty, the layout of churches became more complex, moving from basic rectangular plans to circular ones, sometimes with octagonal variants, whose concentric aisles surround the central square sanctuary housing the talbot. Everything is designed to clearly mark the spatial evolution from profane to sacred.
Modernity in motion
Seduced by the mild climate of the small spa town of Filwoha, Empress Taitou decided to set up a house there in 1887 and christened the place Addis Ababa: the "New Flower". Menelik then had the great imperial palace, or Ghebbi, built there, comprising over fifty structures, including an aqueduct, a circular church and, of course, the palace itself, with its impressive dimensions (2,000 m long and 1,500 m wide). Menelik then ordered his generals to build residential complexes called Sefer. These superb residences often consisted of square or rectangular blocks resting on stone foundations, linked by wooden covered bridges and embellished with carved turrets, courtyards pierced by colorful stained-glass windows and airy verandas. A few years later, Ménélik had the new Saint-Georges district built, where he authorized foreign delegations to settle. The capital was to become the cradle of a style dubbed the "Addis Ababa style", drawing on a variety of influences and resulting in buildings adorned with domes, verandas or sculpted tympanums and columns. This eclecticism was already present in the palace of Menelik, who called on the services of the Belgian engineer Alfred Ilg, the great Indian site manager and court architect Haji Khawas and the Italian Luigi Capucci, who built numerous small Italian palaces in the city. It was also during Menelik's reign that new materials were introduced: locally manufactured clay bricks and corrugated iron, which could be imported en masse thanks to the extension of the railroad to the capital. The city's phenomenal expansion put a strain on the wood supply system. To remedy the situation, Menelik decided to found Addis Alem, 40 km from the capital. There, the emperor ordered the planting of fast-growing trees, including many species of eucalyptus, which became the capital's emblems. From 1936 to 1941, the country was under Fascist occupation. Architect Marcello Piacentini was entrusted with the city's new organization. He advocated racial segregation and integrated hygienic elements into an architecture that had to adapt to the tropical climate. A new axis was created, running from the train station to Saint-Georges church, symbolizing this new rectilinear urbanism. After the war, it was under the leadership of Haile Selassie that the country entered the modern era. Henri Chomette, a Frenchman, was one of the greatest architects of the period, who "rejected pastiches and models and gave pride of place to the site and its geographical, climatic and cultural specificities". In 1953, Haile Selassie appointed him as the capital's consulting architect. Among other projects, he built the Haile Selassie Opera-Theatre. His most famous achievement, however, was the headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, built in concrete, aluminum and marble, with a domed lobby. To illustrate his power, the Negus also built grand palaces, such as the Jubilee Palace or National Palace, and undertook a vast program of church and cathedral construction, designed to glorify his dynasty. Some of the older churches were rebuilt to suit the modern vision of the Negus. Many of them are based on a rectangular basilica plan, whose silhouettes blend in better with modern lines. The greatest representative of this architecture of power is, of course, the Church of the Holy Trinity.
Contemporary Ethiopia
Since its creation, Addis Ababa has grown steadily, and this urbanization has been particularly violent, especially for the poor. Faced with a shortage of housing, the government did launch a major program based on fast-build condominiums, but this required the import of foreign materials, which considerably increased production costs. Addis Ababa's problem is that it's surrounded by mountains and therefore forced to develop upwards. This explains why so many concrete blocks of flats have sprung up. With this in mind, Addis Ababa University has entered into a partnership with the Bauhaus University of Weimar to create prefabricated, modular housing prototypes, combining modern and natural materials, to make new arrivals feel fully welcome. The difficulty of controlling urban growth is also reflected in the lack of heritage preservation policies, particularly for Sefer, many of which have been abandoned or even destroyed to make way for soulless towers of glass and concrete. Fortunately, however, many people today understand the importance of thinking about the development of more sustainable architecture, designed in harmony with the heritage of the past. Conceived by anthropologist Meskerem Assegued and artist Elias Simé, the Zoma Museum in Addis Ababa is a sort of dream city, featuring traditional houses built of dry stone or wattle and daub (a technique known as chika), on which Elias Simé has sculpted plant forms or lines resembling giant fingerprints. The museum's gardens, created by a thorough clean-up of the land formerly occupied by an old landfill site, are criss-crossed by bridges designed to be painted by artists from all over the world. Spanish architect Xavier Vilalta is responsible for one of the capital's most fascinating buildings: the Lideta Mercato, a shopping mall that was awarded the UNESCO World Architecture Prize. A large skylight distributes light to all seven floors via an immense spiral staircase, while the façade is covered with a concrete skin perforated with thousands of small porthole-like openings for natural ventilation. The country also boasts a number of beautiful "ecolodges" inspired by the richness of vernacular architecture, such as the Gehralta Lodge in Hawzen, with its small dry-stone houses, wooden ceilings and green roofs linked by elegant footpaths.
Vernacular riches
Among the great treasures of traditional Ethiopian architecture, don't miss the astonishing Konso villages. Always situated on basalt hilltops and structured like fortresses, these villages are surrounded by one to six concentric dry-stone walls 3 to 4 m high. Sheltered by these defensive walls, small urban centers developed, lined with cobbled streets and divided into neighborhoods where each family had its own hut and private space. The central space is called the mora, a square with a sacred stone at its center. There are also daga-hela, or large stone steles, and olayta, or generational poles made of sacred juniper. Every eighteen years, a new mast is added as a symbol of the birth of a new generation. The other most striking form of traditional Ethiopian architecture is the tukul, a circular hut with a wooden frame and walls of cob, wood or stone, topped by a conical thatched roof. The finest examples can be seen in Lalibela. At the same time, each ethnic group has developed its own style of traditional architecture. The Dorzé people are famous for their beehive-shaped huts made of wood and woven bamboo. When termites have destroyed the lower part of the hut, it is simply moved to another location... so the lowest huts are the oldest! Other peoples are renowned for their decorative work. This is particularly true of the Alaba, whose houses are painted in bright colors, using natural pigments, and adorned with geometric, floral or animal motifs that tell the story of their lives and beliefs, in a beautiful narrative aesthetic. A desert people, the Afar designed hemispherical huts made of palm branches covered with fabric mats, to withstand sandstorms. Afar camps consist of two to six huts arranged in a circle and protected by thorn bush fences. The many other ethnic groups living on Ethiopian soil share the same vision of an architecture made of natural materials (wooden or bamboo frames, thatched roofs), often circular in shape, with women playing a key role in design and construction. These are lessons many countries could learn from!
