Aksum – Discover the Ancient Sights of Ethiopia

One of the most impressive and interesting destinations of Ethiopia lies close to its northern border, representing the ancient site of Aksum, filled with marvelous monuments, churches and monasteries, palaces and castles, tombs and stelae. This used to be the capital of the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum, one of the most powerful and developed in the world between the 1st and 10th centuries AD.

Today, Aksum is an amazing place to visit and explore, one of the major attractions of Africa and overall, a very instructive and mysterious destination. Reaching Aksum is pretty easy from the capital of Addis Ababa, mostly by air with daily flights landing on the Aksum airport. The long distance deters most travelers from using the bus, as the journey can usually take three days and one must change several buses. Once there, it is fairly easy to visit all of the attractions, as they are within walking distance or can be reached with local guidance.

Why visit Aksum?

There are surely many reasons to visit the ancient city of Aksum, as many as there are ruins and vestiges on the site. Inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage in 1980, it represents one of the most important and inspiring cultural destinations in Africa, a remnant of a once influential and wealthy empire. The main highlights of the site and the main reasons to visit include churches, royal tombs, obelisks, stelae fields, palace ruins, as well as museums and monasteries.

All of these have been proven to represent the remains of a great empire and are filled with legends and stories. The magnificent Church of Our Lady of Zion is said to house the biblical Ark of the Covenant, the Northern Stele Field features many impressive monolithic monuments, while the remnants of the Palace of the Queen of Sheba had nothing to do with the legendary queen, but is still a fascinating site.

Brief history and attractions

The ancient city of Aksum used to be the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Aksum, reaching its peak development between the 1st and the 10th centuries AD, having commercial relations with the largest empires of the world, from Greece to Rome and even Asia. Appearing several centuries before the birth of Christ, Aksum influenced great parts of Africa and even further, as it is believed that the famous Queen of Sheba left from Aksum to meet king Solomon of Jerusalem.

Their son was Menelik I, who during a trip to Jerusalem returned with the Ark of the Covenant that has remained in Aksum ever since, the place becoming the most important religious destination in Ethiopia. As for the impressive monuments and attractions of Aksum, these have been created up to the 14th century, a testament to the power and wealth of the Ethiopian kings.

• Church of St. Mary of Zion – a complex formed by two churches, an older one from the 17th century and a newer one. It is mostly famous because it is famed as being the location where the legendary Ark of the Covenant is being kept, containing the biblical Tablets of Law with the Ten Commandments. The repository of this religious artifact is a small chapel that is not accessible to anyone, while the site of the church itself has a high entry tax.
• Northern Stelae Field – the solid granite stele are simply stunning, enveloped in mystery and legends. It is not known exactly their purpose and the way they were built, some having unbelievable dimensions. The biggest one used to be over 30 meters and weighted around 500 tons, but now lies cracked in several pieces. There are many others with equally impressive heights. The memorial obelisks are definitely a sight not be missed in Aksum.
• Palace of the Queen of Sheba – The ruins of an ancient palace from the 7th century are located in close range from the other monuments of Aksum. Despite its name, the actual queen of Sheba lived over a millennia and a half before the construction of this palace.
• The Royal Tombs – These whole ancient fields are filled with fascinating monuments that house the tombs of many kings of Ethiopia and ancient Aksum.
• Judith Stelae Field – A short distance away from the city, while not as big and imposing as the ones on the northern side of Aksum, these are still worth visiting.
• Other monuments – Include several other important attractions of Aksum that can be visited by travelers that wish to deepen their knowledge of the site and its importance. These include interesting sights such as the Lioness of Gobedra sculpture, the scriptures of Ezanas, the Monastery of Abba Pantaleon, the Archaeological Museum and others.