Harar Jugol is new UN World Heritage Site

(13/07/06)

Ethiopia is one of the six African countries which have gained new World Heritage sites in the latest list published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO. The historic town of Harar Jugol in Ethiopia was added to the new list by the World Heritage Committee on Wednesday 12^th July 2006, along with Malawi’s Chongoni rock area, Tanazania’s Kondoa Rock Art Sites over-looking the Great Rift Valley, Aapravasi Ghat in Mauritius, and the Sine Ngayene, Wanar, Wassu and Kerbatch Sont Circles in Senegal and Gambia.

The new list says the following of Harar Jugol;

The fortified historic town of Harar is located in the eastern part of the country on a plateau with deep gorges surrounded by deserts and savannah. The walls surrounding this sacred Muslim city were built between the 13th and 16th centuries. Harar Jugol, said to be the fourth holiest city of Islam, numbers 82 mosques, three of which date from the 10th century, and 102 shrines.

The most common houses in Harar Jugol are traditional townhouses consisting of three rooms on the ground floor and service areas in the courtyard. Another type of house, called the Indian House, built by Indian merchants who came to Harar after 1887, is a simple rectangular two-storied building with a veranda overlooking either street or courtyard. A third type of building was born of the combination of elements from the other two.

The Harari people are known for the quality of their handicrafts, including weaving, basket making and book-binding, but the houses with their exceptional interior design constitute the most spectacular part of Harar’s cultural heritage This architectural form is typical, specific and original, different from the domestic layout usually known in Muslim countries. It is also unique in Ethiopia.

Harar was established in its present urban form in the 16th century as an Islamic town characterized by a maze of narrow alleyways and forbidding facades. From 1520 to 1568 it was the capital of the Harari Kingdom. From the late 16th century to the 19th century, Harar was noted as a centre of trade and Islamic learning. In the 17th century it became an independent emirate. It was then occupied by Egypt for ten years and became part of Ethiopia in 1887.

The impact of African and Islamic traditions on the development of the town’s specific building types and urban layout make for the particular character and even uniqueness of Harar.

For more information about the new World Heritage Sites visit the UNESCO website, www.unesco.org

ENDS